Aussie invasive carp are bold, but not so beautiful

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-08-23 09:01

Australia; NSW; NT

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Australian researchers have been getting to know the invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and say the animals have bolder personalities than native Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii), as well as reproducing quickly, explaining why they've taken over so successfully. The team compared the behaviour of 30 carp with cod behaviour, including 38 wild and 33 hatchery-raised cod. They found wild invasive carp and hatchery-reared cod were generally faster to leave shelter and more likely to emerge and explore than wild Murray cod. In fact, hatchery cod were more similar to the carp than the wild-born cod, but they may not be the solution to the carp problem - the naive hatchery fish failed to flee when a predator came calling, while the carp beat a sensibly hasty retreat.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Bold-shy personality traits of globally invasive, native and hatchery-reared fish

The bold, and not-so-beautiful. Carp are considered one of the world's most destructive invasive species. Their global spread is often attributed to their fast pace-of-life. New research shows that they not only have a fast life-history, but they also have bold personalities. Their ability to boldly explore new environments and rapidly escape predators may have facilitated their global invasion success in places like Australia where they now dominate many waterways. These bold personalities contrast with wild native fish like Australia's Murray cod which show "shy-type" personalities. Interestingly, ‘bold-type’ behaviours of hatchery-reared native cod were more like invasive carp than they were to ‘shy-type’ wild individuals.

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Research The Royal Society, Web page The URL will go live at some point after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: Royal Society Open Science

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Charles Sturt University, Charles Darwin University

Funder: R.K. Kopf was supported by a Charles Sturt University post-doctoral researcher fellowship.

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