Effects of early experience on group behaviour in fish
Animals that undergo a habitat shift face a number of challenges as they move between habitats; for example, they may encounter new predator species and may be vulnerable as they adapt to their new surroundings. An ability to adapt quickly to the new environment is likely to influence post-transition survival, and an understanding of the […]
Changes in the visual environment affect colour signal brightness and shoaling behaviour in a freshwater fish
Aquatic organisms are exposed to highly variable light environments, which can affect the efficacy of colour patterns that are used for communication or camouflage. Specifically, dissolved organic matter that is common in turbid freshwater habitats tends to absorb short wavelength light causing a shift towards environments that are rich in longwavelengths (orange/red).We investigatedhowchanges in the […]
Sex-specific perceptual spaces for a vertebrate basal social aggregative behavior
Loose aggregations of fishes, or shoals, are a basal social organization of vertebrates and offer a valuable opportunity to determine how individual perceptions influence group formation. We used zebrafish, Danio rerio, to comprehensively investigate the preference space for shoaling related to adult pigment pattern variation, presented in the form of 17 zebrafish pigment pattern mutants […]
Coral reef fish incorporate multiple sources of visual and chemical information to mediate predation risk
Behavioural ecology is rife with examples of the way in which prey animals make decisions to alter when, where and how they forage or reproduce in response to variation in predation risk. Given that animals cannot have perfectly accurate information regarding the relative costs and benefits of each decision made, the process of decision making […]