Is there an impact of behaviour on trapping migratory invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)?

Abstract

Trapping is used to control a variety of invasive species; however, trap encounter and entrance can vary between-and within-species depending on consistent individual differences in behaviour. We develop a framework for testing how consistent differences in behaviour might be related to trapping a migratory species. We tested whether adult migrating sea lamprey display consistent individual differences in two behaviours, boldness (measured as exit time from an enclosure) and activity (measured as the proportion of time spent moving), and whether these differences were related to trap entrance or timing. We predicted that bolder and more active individuals would migrate sooner and be more likely to be caught in a trap. We also predicted that early in the migration phenology, trapped individuals would not differ in behaviour from untrapped individuals, but later in the migration phenology, trapped individuals would be bolder and more active. We determined that sea lamprey exhibit consistent individual differences in boldness and activity but found no evidence that these differences were related to migratory timing or trap capture A greater understanding of how individual differences in behaviour influence trapping could help improve the management of invasive species by allowing for a better estimation of population size and provide insight into how to target different behavioural types.