Feeding affects individual and collective behavior of schooling fish


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


18-2  Sat Jan 2  Feeding affects individual and collective behavior of schooling fish Di Santo, V*; Lauder, GV; Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA valentina.disanto@zoologi.su.se https://www.valentinadisanto.com/

Schooling is a prevalent collective behavior that arises from the interaction of a group of individuals during swimming. School formations are characterized by strong polarization, and fish maintain reasonably discrete relative positions within the group. Schooling behavior may facilitate foraging, but to date there is little work on the interactions of individuals during the introduction of food. In this study we quantified tridimensional schooling patterns and dynamics in schooling fish, the Inland silverside (Menidia beryllina). Schools were composed of 14 individuals (average length = 5 cm) swimming at 15 different speeds, ranging from 1 to 8 body length per second. Three high-speed cameras recorded fish positions before, during and after feeding events to obtain a tridimensional reconstruction of fish movement using DeepLabCut. When food was introduced in the flow tank, the school formation was disrupted as silversides moved about to acquire individual food items. We quantified this repositioning of individuals within the school after feeding. Fish that obtained food tended to move to the front of the school where energetic costs of swimming are higher. We compared feeding events and repositioning of individuals at different flow speeds and found that schools are not static units, as fish change position rather often to acquire food, or to save energy by swimming behind other individuals. Changes in individual behavior and the interactions among individuals in response to food provide insights into the effect of local movement on general dynamics in collective behavior.

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