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1. For #animals, social competence (SC) is a crucial ability to cope with social challenges early in life. Here, I am going to show you how early social experience influences SC in a cooperatively breeding #fish, Neolamprologus pulcher. #AnimBehav2021
2. We raised fish in large (10 adults) and small (3 adults) groups where the juveniles gathered different social experience for two months. We tested 2 focal fish per group for a total of 20 fish. #AnimBehav2021
3. At four months old each fish was tested three times to assess social competence. We did this by determining whether individuals showed appropriate submission behaviour to a larger dominant fish. #AnimBehav2021
4. 
raised in larger groups showed more submission in response to increasing aggression by the dominant, showing thereby higher SC than the raised in smaller groups. This difference increased with age, showing the long-lasting effect of early life on SC. #AnimBehav2021
raised in larger groups showed more submission in response to increasing aggression by the dominant, showing thereby higher SC than the raised in smaller groups. This difference increased with age, showing the long-lasting effect of early life on SC. #AnimBehav2021
5. In addition, we found that fish raised in larger groups performed submissive behaviours significantly earlier during a contest than fish raised in smaller groups. This shows that they accept their role as subordinate more readily in presence of a bigger fish. #AnimBehav2021
6. To sum up, we found that a more complex early social environment increases SC and that the effect becomes stronger with age. In the next steps, we will analyse helping and dispersal behaviours to see how early-life influences other social traits in our fish. #AnimBehav2021
