Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Levell, Samantha

Area of Concentration

Animal Wellbeing and Conservation

Abstract

Animal personality is the consistent individual differences in behavior over time and context. Some examples of personality that are measurable in fish are boldness, shyness, and aggression. In this study, I will look at whether Heterandria formosa (least killifish) from the Trout Pond (TP) population exhibit aggressive behaviors, showing that there is an individual difference in behavior among individual fish when exposed to a conspecific. I will record aggressive behaviors across repeated trials in which each focal fish is presented with a conspecific. By quantifying behaviors such as chases and strikes, I can see whether individuals show consistent aggression levels across contexts and time. I will address validity and reliability through multiple trials, over different contexts, as well as peer observations, to ensure accurate measurements of behaviors. I hypothesize that H. formosa will show repeatable individual differences in aggression across time and contexts, indicating that aggression functions as a personality trait. This study will contribute to our understanding of behavioral consistency and the ecological relevance of personality variation in small freshwater fish.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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