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Research update

From neighbours to good friends

15 Dec 2019

Temperate coastal marine environments are widely recognised for their productivity and diversity of species, yet there have been few descriptions of how different species of fish interact. 

In this study, scientists from Plant & Food Research and the University of Canterbury looked at how three geographically co-existing species of finfish (Kahawai, snapper and yellow-eyed mullet), found in New Zealand’s inshore and estuarine environments, responded to periods of routine activity, feeding, and simulated predator attack within controlled tank settings.  

The study found that species of comparable morphology (i.e. kahawai and yellow-eyed mullet) readily form single schools, whereas morphologically distinct species (snapper) do not. Geometric characteristics of mixed species schools adhere to widely described interaction rules. Feeding hierarchies also readily establish between the different species. 

These findings provide the firsts insights into how mixed species groups behave and interact in marine environments and provides baseline information for research into the productivity of New Zealand’s species-rich inshore waterways.

Funding was provided by MBIE within the Wildfish 2030 programme (C11X203)

Journal Reference:

Middlemiss KL, Cook DG, Davison W 2019 When close neighbours become good friends: plasticity of behavioural traits in sympatric fishes that form mono- and mixed-species groups. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 52:1, 17-36 https://doi.org/10.1080/10236244.2019.1624168

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