Metabolic rates are typically thought to have important influences on fitness and more broadly be relevant to the ecology and evolution of animals. Previous studies demonstrate that metabolic rates are repeatable to a certain extent under constant conditions, but how social conditions influence the repeatability of metabolic rate remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the repeatability of resting metabolic rate (RMR) in the highly social crucian carp (Carassius auratus) after being socially separated for different time periods relative to control fish that were not socially separated. We found that RMR was repeatable in fish in the control group, while the repeatability of RMR disappeared quickly (even within 7 days) when fish were exposed to social separation. This study is the first to our knowledge to examine the role of social separation for different time periods on the repeatability of intra-individual physiological variation in fish. We highlight that the inter-individual repeatability of metabolic rate can be substantial over time but was eliminated by social separation. The findings indicate that the repeatability of metabolic rate in fish is condition dependent, and that the change in repeatability of metabolic rate should not be overlooked when considering the ecological and evolutionary effects of environmental change.

中文翻译：

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代谢率的可重复性是否受到社会隔离的影响？用硬骨鱼进行的测试。

通常认为代谢率对健康有重要影响，并且更广泛地与动物的生态和进化有关。先前的研究表明，在恒定条件下，代谢率在一定程度上是可重复的，但是，社会条件如何影响代谢率的可重复性仍然未知。在这项研究中，我们调查了高度社交的cru鱼（Carassius auratus）在不同时间相对于没有社交分离的对照鱼进行社交分离之后的静息代谢率（RMR）的可重复性。我们发现对照组的鱼类中RMR是可重复的，而当鱼类处于社会隔离状态时，RMR的重复性很快消失（甚至在7天之内）。这项研究是我们所知的第一个研究不同时间段社会分离对鱼类个体内部生理变异的可重复性的作用。我们着重指出，新陈代谢率的个体间可重复性随着时间的流逝可能会很大，但由于社会隔离而被消除。研究结果表明，鱼体内代谢率的可重复性与条件有关，在考虑环境变化的生态和进化影响时，不应忽视代谢率的可重复性的变化。