Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 279, Issue 1727, Pages 357-364Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.1006
Keywords
ecophysiology; group behaviour; trade-offs; metabolic rate
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Funding
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Universite Montpellier 2
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Davies Charitable Foundation
- Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (Italy)
- European Commission
- Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation
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The schooling behaviour of fish is of great biological importance, playing a crucial role in the foraging and predator avoidance of numerous species. The extent to which physiological performance traits affect the spatial positioning of individual fish within schools is completely unknown. Schools of juvenile mullet Liza aurata were filmed at three swim speeds in a swim tunnel, with one focal fish from each school then also measured for standard metabolic rate (SMR), maximal metabolic rate (MMR), aerobic scope (AS) and maximum aerobic swim speed. At faster speeds, fish with lower MMR and AS swam near the rear of schools. These trailing fish required fewer tail beats to swim at the same speed as individuals at the front of schools, indicating that posterior positions provide hydrodynamic benefits that reduce swimming costs. Conversely, fish with high aerobic capacity can withstand increased drag at the leading edge of schools, where they could maximize food intake while possibly retaining sufficient AS for other physiological functions. SMR was never related to position, suggesting that high maintenance costs do not necessarily motivate individuals to occupy frontal positions. In the wild, shifting of individuals to optimal spatial positions during changing conditions could influence structure or movement of entire schools.
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