Why do Fish School?

Cushing, D. H.; Jones, Frank

doi:10.1038/218918b0

Cited by 115 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Large aggregations of animals have a small surface areaholume ratio compared to small aggregations. When fish school, the mean effective surface area exposed to predators of individual school fish decreases with increasing school size causing the predator-prey encounter rate to decrease (Brock & Riffenburg 1960, Cushing & Harding-Jones 1968 but the comparatively small surface area of large schools makes feeding less efficient for planktivores (Eggers 1976). Thus small schools of anchovy may be feeding (Cushing 1977).…”

Section: Ecology Of Prey Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…adults, were determined by timing, with a stop watch, aggregative behaviour (Hamner et al 1983) which birds swimming over a 10 m distance in a rock pool reduces the probability of predator-prey encounter (dimensions approximately 15 X 2 X 1 m). The birds (Cushing & Harding-Jones 1968), schooling (Pitcher & were given a 1 m stretch in which to accelerate before Partridge 1979, Partridge 1980 where aggregations being timed. They were alarmed when released, apparare highly organised so that the prey can react to ently traveling as fast as possible and generally swimminimize predation after they have been discovered ming directly from 1 end to the other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Jackass Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) as a pelagic predator

Wilson¹

1985

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

105

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Swimming and diving capabilities of Jackass Penguin Spheniscus demersus were examined. Mean maximum speed over a 10 m course in a rock pool was 12.4 km h-' for breeders, 9.5 km h-' for juveniles and 4.6 km h-' for fledglings. Theoretically fledglings could not swim fast enough to catch adult Cape Anchovies Engraulis capensis, the normal prey of adults. Fledglings probably feed on fish larvae. Moulting penguins swam at speeds comparable to fledglings and did not feed. When travelling to the foraging area, breeding penguins swam at 4.8 km h-'. Maximum theoretical foraging range is 24.2 km, but actual range was < 20 km. Mean duration of dive was 22.3 S inside Saldanha Bay and 146 S outside the bay. During long dives outside Saldanha Bay, penguins were probably foraging. At midday, when most Jackass Penguins are at sea, largest numbers were seen outside the bay in 30 to 40 m depth. Penguins fitted with depth gauges dived routinely to 30 m, but spent most time in the upper water layers. Maximum recorded depth was 130 m. There was a positive correlation between distance swum and amount of food ingested. This suggests that the anchovy on which they feed formed small schools which were encountered frequently.

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Section: Ecology Of Prey Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Jackass Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) as a pelagic predator

Wilson¹

1985

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

105

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“…It is possible, for example, that female porpoises were able to forage more pro¢tably during periods of low prey abundance. Atlantic herring form dense schools, largely as an anti-predator strategy (Cushing & Harden Jones 1968). We do not know how school size or composition varied with abundance in the Gulf of Maine, but it is possible that female porpoises were able to increase their foraging success in periods of low prey abundance by focusing their e¡orts on small, dispersed schools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in the maternal investment of harbour porpoises are uncoupled from the dynamics of their primary prey

Read

2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Harbour porpoises in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine feed primarily on Atlantic herring. Herring stocks have undergone dramatic £uctuations in abundance over the past three decades due to changes in ¢shing intensity. In order to understand the e¡ects of these changes in prey abundance on the patterns of maternal investment, I examined interdecadal variation in the size of porpoise calves measured in August prior to weaning. Female harbour porpoises exhibited signi¢cant variation in maternal investment between 1970 and 1999. During the 1980s, females consumed more herring and produced larger calves. Surprisingly, however, this increased maternal investment occurred during the period of lowest prey abundance, perhaps because the herring stock assessment does not re£ect the availability or quality of prey to female porpoises.

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“…Schooling has been credited with serving various other biological functions including defence from predators (Brock & Riffenburgh 1960;Cushing & Harden Jones 1968), enhanced feeding and reproductive opportunities (Shaw 1978;Pitcher et al 1982). Amid a lack of clear agreement regarding the evolutionary purpose of schooling behaviour (Pavlov & Kasumyan 2000), there is growing evidence supporting the role of hydrodynamic mediation in facilitating propulsion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronisation through learning for two self-propelled swimmers

et al. 2017

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We study the fluid dynamics of two fish-like bodies with synchronised swimming patterns. Our studies are based on two-dimensional simulations of viscous incompressible flows. We distinguish between motion patterns that are externally imposed on the swimmers and self-propelled swimmers that learn manoeuvres to achieve certain goals. Simulations of two rigid bodies executing pre-specified motion indicate that flow-mediated interactions can lead to substantial drag reduction and may even generate thrust intermittently. In turn we examine two self-propelled swimmers arranged in a leader-follower configuration, with a-priori specified body-deformations. We find that the swimming of the leader remains largely unaffected, while the follower experiences either an increase or decrease in swimming speed, depending on the initial conditions. Finally, we consider a follower that synchronises its motion so as to minimize its lateral deviations from the leader's path. The leader employs a steady gait while the follower uses a reinforcement learning algorithm to adapt its swimming-kinematics. We find that swimming in a synchronised tandem can yield up to about 30% reduction in energy expenditure for the follower, in addition to a 20% increase in its swimming-efficiency. The present results indicate that synchronised swimming of two fish can be energetically beneficial.

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Why do Fish School?

Cited by 115 publications

References 9 publications

The Jackass Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) as a pelagic predator

The Jackass Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) as a pelagic predator

Trends in the maternal investment of harbour porpoises are uncoupled from the dynamics of their primary prey

Synchronisation through learning for two self-propelled swimmers

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