Never forget where you came from: Microhabitat of origin influences boldness and exploration in the hermit crab Clibanarius symmetricus (Diogenidae)

Abstract

Behavioral traits can differ between individuals in a population and affect their fitness if they differentially influence survivorship in a microhabitat scale. This may occur when individuals experience different predation risks between microhabitats. In this study, we investigated boldness, exploration, and their correlation depending on the microhabitat of origin in the hermit crab Clibanarius symmetricus. Individuals of both sexes were collected from four microhabitats with different levels of predation exposure within the intertidal zone of a mangrove. We conducted experiments introducing the hermit crabs to a new standard environment and simulated predation attempts to assess exploration and boldness. Latency to re-emerge from the shell (boldness) was consistent and not affected by size, sex, or microhabitat type, but was slightly different between years. Exploration, in turn, varied only according to the microhabitat from which individuals were collected. Hermit crabs from the less risky environments explored the experimental arena for longer than individuals from the microhabitat most exposed to predators. This behavioral consistency in exploration activity can influence microhabitat choice in C. symmetricus. In addition, boldness and exploration were weakly correlated in a behavioral syndrome. Therefore, predation exposure can be a source of variation in exploration-avoidance personalities and can indirectly influence the expression of boldness in C. symmetricus. We conclude that personality traits can coevolve and have implications for habitat choice, but traditional theories of individual behavioral consistency still lack a unified theoretical background linking animal personality to niche specialization with empirical support.