Juvenile stress disrupts the development of an exploration–boldness behavioural syndrome in convict cichlid fish

Early life experience may have lifelong influences on an individual's behaviour in ways that are either adaptive or maladaptive depending in part on whether these early experiences accurately foreshadowed conditions in later life. Stress coping style is one example of a suite of behaviours, or personality traits, that may be influenced by early exposure to stressful stimuli. Here we examine the effect of developmental stress exposure on behavioural syndromes in adult convict cichlids, Amatitlania nigrofasciata. We found that early life stress did not exert significant effects on personality traits in adulthood at the individual level, but that this stress exposure prevented the formation of an exploration–boldness syndrome that was present in the unstressed population. These results suggest that an exploration–boldness syndrome is present in this species in the absence of stress-related environmental constraints. However, greater plasticity may be selected for in response to early life cues that reflect high predator pressure. •Juvenile stress disrupted formation of an exploration–boldness behavioural syndrome.•Fish with prior stress exposure tended to display proactive coping behaviours.•Early stress exposure may result in higher baseline cortisol levels.•Early life constraints can cause lasting phenotypic change.•Natural constraints may lead to an exploration–boldness behavioural syndrome.