TY - JOUR
T1 - Parasitism, oddity and the mechanism of shoal choice
AU - Barber, I.
AU - Downey, L. C.
AU - Braithwaite, V. A.
PY - 1998/12/31
Y1 - 1998/12/31
N2 - When choosing between shoals differing in Schistocephalus solidus infection status, uninfected test sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus showed a preference for joining uninfected conspecifics when shoal sizes were equal, but reversed this preference when the relative size of the infected shoal was increased by a factor of 3. When given a choice between a shoal composed of size-matched minnows Phoxinus phoxinus and a shoal composed of the same number of all uninfected or all S. solidus-infected sticklebacks, test fish always preferred the sticklebacks, regardless of their infection status, over the minnow shoal. These observations suggest that species, parasite status and shoal size are all of importance when fish decide which shoal to join.
AB - When choosing between shoals differing in Schistocephalus solidus infection status, uninfected test sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus showed a preference for joining uninfected conspecifics when shoal sizes were equal, but reversed this preference when the relative size of the infected shoal was increased by a factor of 3. When given a choice between a shoal composed of size-matched minnows Phoxinus phoxinus and a shoal composed of the same number of all uninfected or all S. solidus-infected sticklebacks, test fish always preferred the sticklebacks, regardless of their infection status, over the minnow shoal. These observations suggest that species, parasite status and shoal size are all of importance when fish decide which shoal to join.
KW - Gasterosteus aculeatus
KW - Group composition
KW - Schistocephalus solidus
KW - Shoaling behaviour
KW - Sticklebacks
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032435910&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1006/jfbi.1998.0788
DO - 10.1006/jfbi.1998.0788
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032435910
SN - 0022-1112
VL - 53
SP - 1365
EP - 1368
JO - Journal of Fish Biology
JF - Journal of Fish Biology
IS - 6
ER -