Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Foraging Rules for Group Feeders: Area Copying Depends upon Food Density in Shoaling Goldfish

Foraging Rules for Group Feeders: Area Copying Depends upon Food Density in Shoaling Goldfish The decision rules governing forage area copying behaviour were investigated in shoaling fish. Shoaling goldfish were offered two equal food patches, one of which was adjacent to an equal‐sized shoal feeding behind a transparent barrier. When food was low, goldfish foraged according to an area copying rule, but under high and zero food area copying disappeared. Only under high food density did equal numbers of fish feed at both sites as predicted by foraging theory. Under zero food the fish were less certain about where to forage. Precise visual cues from feeding fish were required: non‐feeders did not attract area copiers. Furthermore, area copying was task‐dependent since it reappeared strongly if fish were not able to forage on patches like their fellows. Control experiments eliminated an increase in group size for anti‐predator advantage as an explanation. Two sequential decisions: to stay or move, and to join or leave may explain the results, which are not accommodated by simple optimality models. These decisions may be based on a comparison of current food intake with the anticipation of a higher reward by foraging socially. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Ethology Wiley

Foraging Rules for Group Feeders: Area Copying Depends upon Food Density in Shoaling Goldfish

Pitcher, T. J.; House, A. C.
Ethology , Volume 76 (2) – Jan 12, 1987
Download PDF
7 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/foraging-rules-for-group-feeders-area-copying-depends-upon-food-rqq1vyc45D

References (0)

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
1987 Blackwell Verlag GmbH
ISSN
0179-1613
eISSN
1439-0310
DOI
10.1111/j.1439-0310.1987.tb00681.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The decision rules governing forage area copying behaviour were investigated in shoaling fish. Shoaling goldfish were offered two equal food patches, one of which was adjacent to an equal‐sized shoal feeding behind a transparent barrier. When food was low, goldfish foraged according to an area copying rule, but under high and zero food area copying disappeared. Only under high food density did equal numbers of fish feed at both sites as predicted by foraging theory. Under zero food the fish were less certain about where to forage. Precise visual cues from feeding fish were required: non‐feeders did not attract area copiers. Furthermore, area copying was task‐dependent since it reappeared strongly if fish were not able to forage on patches like their fellows. Control experiments eliminated an increase in group size for anti‐predator advantage as an explanation. Two sequential decisions: to stay or move, and to join or leave may explain the results, which are not accommodated by simple optimality models. These decisions may be based on a comparison of current food intake with the anticipation of a higher reward by foraging socially.

Journal

Ethology – Wiley

Published: Jan 12, 1987

There are no references for this article.