Fish schooling

Fish schooling is the coordinated movement of fish in a group, with individuals adjusting their motion in response to nearby members. It can improve predator avoidance and foraging, though benefits vary with conditions.

Collective animal behavior: Group-level patterns produced by interactions among animals following local rules. Schooling is one form of collective behavior built from fish-to-fish interactions.
Predator confusion effect: Reduced predator success caused by difficulty selecting or tracking one target among many moving prey. A dense, moving school can make it harder for a predator to single out a fish.
Fish shoaling: The tendency of fish to remain together in a group, whether or not they swim in coordinated formation. Shoaling names group association broadly; schooling specifically involves coordinated swimming.
Collective escape: A group-wide escape response in which many animals flee after detecting a threat. A disturbance can trigger rapid, coordinated escape through a school.
Self-organization: The emergence of organized patterns from local interactions without centralized control. Schools can form and move coherently without a fish directing the group.
Dilution effect: A reduction in an individual’s chance of being attacked when risk is shared among group members. Grouping spreads a predator’s attack risk across many fish.
Fish aggregation: A gathering of fish in one place, which need not involve social coordination. Fish may aggregate around food or habitat without forming a coordinated school.
Murmuration: Aerial flocking display in which large groups of starlings form shifting patterns. Its spectacular coordinated motion is a bird example, not a form of fish schooling.
Alignment interaction: A behavioral rule in which an individual adjusts its direction toward nearby group members. Matching neighbors’ headings helps a school travel as a coordinated group.
Predator inspection: The approach of prey animals toward a potential predator to assess its threat. Some fish leave the school or approach its edge to gather information about predators.

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