A study suggests sharks might possibly possess distinct personalities making them, well, sort of like individuals. And, yes, sharks are either extroverted or introverted.

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter in England closely observed 10 groups of spotted catsharks to study their social behavior.

Like Us on Facebook

Animal behavior is defined as a repeatable behavior across time and context. Scientists note personalities do exist in animals.

These personalities are usually described by individual characteristics such as how aggressive or timid an individual animal is, and how this personality changes over time.

During the experiment, the sharks were confronted with three situations, each different and ranging from an elaborate territory to a simple tank. Researchers discovered that individually, these sharks chose a different approach in solving these problems, which demonstrated their personalities.

Some stick together in a group and others go out alone. These actions consistently show in a particular shark despite the shark group moving to a different area.

According to David Jacoby, lead author of the study from the Institute of Zoology in London, these results show that sharks possess social preferences that in turn, demonstrate how sharks cope with their environment using different strategies for survival.

Sharks that are more social and connected to a group prefer to hunt in schools. Those that tend to shy away from the school opt to form camouflage techniques such as making their skin similar to the color of gravel found at the bottom of the tank.

In addition, William Hughes, one of the researchers, said these groups of sharks exude behavior similar to human cliques that stay in a particular group no matter what the place or situation. He also says there is probably some sort of extraversion or introversion inherent in animals regardless of their species.

Other animal studies that delve into behavior usually discuss animal aggressiveness and other similar traits. This is, however, the first study of its kind that demonstrates individual animal personalities and social behavior in sharks.

This study was published in the journal, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

TagsSharks Apparently Have Distinct Personalities, sharks, insitute of zoology london, university of exeter, shark study personality, shark social behavior