Summary
Field observations of individuallytagged ocean surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus) indicated that schooling provided a foraging benefit: an increase in relative forging time. The magnitude of this increase differed among individuals, primarily due to time budgets of the fish when they were not in schools. The proportion of nonschooling time devoted to foraging was positively correlated with fish size, while the proportion of schooling time that was spent forging was similar for all individuals. Schooling tendency (percentage of time in schools) was positively related to magnitude of foraging benefit and negatively related to fish size. When fish size was held constant by partial correlation, schooling tendency remained positively related to foraging benefit. These results provide evidence that fish which derive a greater foraging benefit from school membership spend more time in schools.
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Wolf, N.G. Schooling tendency and foraging benefit in the ocean surgeonfish. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 21, 59–63 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00324436
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00324436