Familiarity affects collective motion in shoals of guppies ('Poecilia reticulata')

Title
Familiarity affects collective motion in shoals of guppies ('Poecilia reticulata')
Publication Date
2017
Author(s)
Davis, Scarlet
Lukeman, Ryan
Schaerf, Timothy
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6642-8374
Email: tschaerf@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:tschaerf
Ward, Ashley J W
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
The Royal Society Publishing
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1098/rsos.170312
UNE publication id
une:22831
Abstract
The coordinated and synchronized movement of animals in groups often referred to as collective motion emerges through the interactions between individual animals within the group. Factors which affect these interactions have the potential to shape collective movement. One such factor is familiarity, or the tendency to bias behaviour towards individuals as a result of social recognition. We examined the effect of familiarity on the expression of collective motion in small shoals of female guppies ('Poecilia reticulata'). Groups comprising familiar individuals were more strongly polarized than groups of unfamiliar individuals, particularly when in novel surroundings. The ability to form more strongly polarized shoals potentially promotes information transfer and enhances the anti-predator benefits of grouping.
Link
Citation
Royal Society Open Science, 4(9), p. 1-7
ISSN
2054-5703
Start page
1
End page
7

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