Shyness and sociability are characteristics generally associated with people, but a new study from Britain has found sharks also possess these personality traits.
The study is the first to demonstrate the fearsome predators actually have personalities.
The research, led by Britain's University of Exeter and the Marine Biology Association of the UK, has shown for the first time that individual sharks have personalities which influence how they associate with other sharks, and their defence mechanisms.
In the study, 10 groups of sharks were monitored in large tanks containing three different habitats. Some of the habitats were more complex than others.
London Institute of Zoology behavioural ecologist David Jacoby said even in the different environments the individual sharks tended to act in the same way.
"We found that even though the sizes of the groups forming changed, socially well-connected individuals remained well-connected under each new habitat," he said.
"These results were driven by different social preferences that appeared to reflect different strategies for staying safe."
Social sharks formed conspicuous groups, while anti-social sharks tended to camouflage themselves on their own.
Director of the University of Western Australia's Centre for Marine Futures, Jessica Meeuwig, said the findings make sense.
"It makes complete sense that animals will have different ways of interacting with each other which maximise their chance of survival," she said.
"We've seen everything including family-like interactions with little sharks nuzzling and following the larger animals around. We also see curiosity. Some sharks are keen to investigate our cameras, while others spend more time looking at it."
Dr Meeuwig said fish were also known to have personality traits.
"One thing we need to remember is sharks are actually wildlife and they do have good cognition and highly evolved brains... They're intelligent, smart and capable of complex interactions," she said.
Research from Macquarie University associate professor Culum Brown has found the cognitive perception of fish was on par with other animals and that they were most likely able to feel pain.
Worldwide there are around 400 species of sharks. Of these, around 180 species occur in Australian waters.
University of Exeter researcher Darren Croft said personality was defined as a "repeatable behaviour across time and contexts".
"What is interesting is that these behaviours differ consistently among individuals. This study shows, for the first time, that individual sharks possess social personalities," he said.
"More research, however, is required to truly test the influence of predators on social personality traits in sharks. This study is the first step in that direction."
