#  Fish in schools swim easier in rough waters 

 





June 06, 2024

 

 

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Locomotion is a key aspect of animal behavior, from migration and feeding to reproduction. All animals have adapted their most efficient form based on their environments and body types. In a new study published in [PLOS Biology](https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002501), a team of researchers led by postdoctoral fellow, Yangfan Zhang, finds that for fish, swimming in a school is more easier compared to solitary swimmers.

Zhang and co-authors tested their "turbulent sheltering hypothesis", which suggests that traveling in schools allows fish to shield each other from disruptive water currents, making it easier to swim in rough waters, through trials on giant danios (*Devario aeqipinnatus*). Zhang and senior author, Professor George Lauder, observed the fish swimming alone and in groups of eight in both turbulent and steady water. They used high-speed cameras to capture the fishes movements as they swam and a respirometer to measure the respiration rates and energy expenditure of the fish.

The team found that schooling fish expended up to 79% less energy swimming in turbulent water compared to solitary fish. The schooling fish also clustered more closely together in turbulent water compared to steady water. Solitary fish, on the other hand, beat their tails more vigorously in order to maintain the same speed in turbulent water.

Their findings indicate that locomotion efficiency may be the driving factor behind the evolution of schooling behavior. "Our study shows that the evolutionary function of schooling behavior is to substantially reduce the energetic cost for fish swimming in a turbulent environment, compared to swimming alone," Zhang said.

The findings not only aid in understanding fish ecology and the fundamentals of hydrodynamics, they can also be applied to the design and maintenance of habitats meant to harbor protected fish species, or to hinder invasive ones.

##### *Image: A school of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in upper Nimpkish River, British Columbia, Canada. Credit: Fernando Lessa*



 

 

 



 

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