Prawns have personalities and cautious crustaceans do better in the battle for food, new research suggests.

Scientists studied rockpool prawns and found some were consistently shy, while others were bolder.

But this bravery may come at a cost - as the risk-takers tended to do worse than other prawns when competing for food.

"We found that the shyer prawns were better at controlling a food source," said first author Daniel Maskrey, formerly of the University of Exeter but now at the University of Liverpool.

"This means that when they found food and possible rivals were nearby, they stayed and fed for longer than bolder prawns.