title: Behaviour, physiology and carotenoid pigmentation in Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus.
abstract: The behaviour during an exploration task and the response to a confinement stress of Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus were evaluated. Behaviour of individuals during 90 min of exploration was classified into high and low activity. High-activity individuals had higher plasma cortisol levels following stress compared to low-activity individuals. This indicates that high- and low-activity individuals correspond to reactive and proactive stress-coping styles. Further, a pigmentation analysis showed that high-activity individuals had a higher number of carotenoid spots cm⁻² than low-activity individuals. Thus, carotenoid pigmentation, as melanin pigmentation in other salmonids, could be linked to stress-coping style in S. alpinus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Backström
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brännäs
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magnhagen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D010858:Pigmentation; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014337:Trout / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002338:Carotenoids; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: activity; confinement stress; stress-coping style