Mixed School Behavior Draper and Joe

Abstract Our project was a study on the effect of adding a new fish into an already mixed school of fish in a marine- reef aquarium. The effects that were studied are as follows: positioning of the different fish in the tank, and their different behaviors and temperaments. Examples of these behaviors include: proximity to fish, chasing/nipping other fish, as well as any similarities in their swimming patterns.

The Fish We Added Spotted Mandarin Dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus) Eats copepods, polychaete worms, fish eggs Small (6 cm) bottom dweller Completely non-aggressive

Research Questions 1.Does the introduction of a new fish into the tank alter the behavior of the previous occupants, movement, territories, proximity to other fish? 2.Does the already mixed school exhibit behaviors of a school in the wild? 3.Will there be any competition between the scooter blenny and the spotted mandarin? 4.Are there enough flatworms to feed the spotted mandarin and scooter blenny? 5.Will the regal tang exhibit similar swimming patterns as the newly introduced fish?

Hypothesis Due to the fact the school is already mixed, the introduction of a new fish will not change the behavioral patterns of the school.

Mandarin Behaviors

Scooter Blenny Behaviors

General Interactions

Monthly Trend of Swimming with Other Fish

Monthly Trends of Chasing Other Fish

Monthly Trends Of Nipping Other Fish

General Conclusions Black and kole tangs closest thing to a wild school of fish Regal tang most aggressive Clownfish was very territorial, only exhibited any acts of aggression when something entered its corner, also was only ever in its corner

Research Questions 1.Does the introduction of a new fish into the tank alter the behavior of the previous occupants, movement, territories, proximity to other fish? No massive discernable change in swimming patterns or partners 1.Does the already mixed school exhibit behaviors of a school in the wild? Sort of, the black and kole tangs spent the most time swimming together out of the other fish, but it wasn’t constant 1.Will there be any competition between the scooter blenny and the spotted mandarin? Yes, only recently did we discover that the scooter blenny was in a bad way, and possibly dead potentially due to being outcompeted by mandarin 1.Are there enough flatworms to feed the spotted mandarin and scooter blenny? No 1.Will the regal tang exhibit similar swimming patterns as the newly introduced fish? No, the mandarin was almost constantly hidden in the corals and rocks

Revisiting Hypothesis Due to the fact the school is already mixed, the introduction of a new fish will not change the behavioral patterns of the school. Overall our hypothesis was a mixed bag, while the Spotted Mandarin didn’t radically change the behavior, there were some deviations from the control period, such as an increase in hunger, and a slight increase in aggression

Problems The main problem was that the mandarin spent so much time hiding so it didn’t impact the other fishes’ behaviors that much Very limited viewing time of the tank, only saw interactions that occurred when we checked the tank The nature of the environment, enclosed semi-personal aquarium, limited the options for fish selection In order to get graphs of certain behaviors, swimming/aggression, we had to drop the specific fish involved because we couldn’t find a way to reflect that in the graph Shortened March and April skewed data

Revisions/Future Steps Set up a video camera so there is constant monitoring of the tank, giving a more complete view of the interactions between the fish Possibly introduce a larger or more active fish into the school Test a different variable such as feeding, habitat etc.

Value While there has been substantial research done on mixed schools in aquariums, the chief value of our research would be that in the future it would probably be unwise to put two bottom feeders in the same tank, see scooter blenny and spotted mandarin.

1."Spotted Mandarin Dragonet Care, Guide and Information." 101 Saltwater Aquarium. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct Picked this site to use as background information on the Spotted Mandarin fish, which we plan to introduce into the school to test if the current fish's behaviour change. Information that was provided consisted of important information about feeding the fish, as well as suitable, and unsuitable tank mates. As well as minor technical details, such as preferred temperature and pH level. Finally also included some interesting information such as the fact that it secretes a poisonous mucus similar to a Dart Frogs. aquarium.com/fishes-information/spotted-mandarin-dragonet.php 2."Ocellaris Clownfish Care." Ocellaris Clownfish. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct Provides useful information about the ocellaris clownfish, such as feeding and behavior habits. As well as a list of different species of fish it is compatible with that is anticipated to be useful when trying to introduce a new fish into the school in Tank A to observe the behavior of the other fish. 3.Fenner, Robert. "Tang Comp FAQ2." Wet Web Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct This website shows different questions and responses about types of tangs and their behavior. This helps us out because we will be able to see if a certain type of tang will behave in a way that is either helpful or detrimental to our tank. This will be very good if we are purchasing a new fish for tank A because we will need to know about the behaviors of these fish. The site also talks to about the schooling of tangs which will be helpful for our mixed school project. 4.Fatheree, James. "Aquarium Fish: Surgeonfishes, A.K.A. the Tangs." Advanced Aquarist. N.p., Dec Web. 5 Oct Provided a lot of background information on Tangs, including feeding and behavior habits, additionally it provides information on their behavior in tanks, such as friendly towards other species/invertebrates. 5.Alevision, W.S. "Mixed Schooling and Its Possible Significance in a Tropical Western Atlantic Parrotfish and Surgeonfish." Copeia (1976): Print. Journal entry/study about an observed mixed school between blue surgeonfish (blue/regal tangs) and midnight parrotfish. Interesting example of an actual observed mixed school in wild that could prove useful as a basis for our experiment. Includes enough details to ensure the intermingling of the species and not that the species were just simply inhabiting neighboring plots of reef. This is shown with instances of a school of tangs and parrot fish exhibiting similar swimming patterns whilst in close proximity to one another.

1.Environmental Biology of Fishes. Print. This article gives us information about someone who has combined and schooled two surgeonfish in the past and how it turned out. This will be helpful in forming a hypothesis about attempting to school surgeonfish if that is what we do in our project. 2.Environmental Sciences of Fishes. Print. This is a piece of research about how surgeonfish school together in the wild which will help us gauge the reactions to the captive surgeonfish over the course of our project. This will be a viable subsection of what we are doing, to see how the surgeonfish that school in our tank compares to the surgeonfish that school in the wild. 3."Research: With a Little Help from My Friends: Benefits of Schooling in Ocean Surgeonfish." Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science (2008): n. pag. Print. This study helps us learn about the schooling behaviors of the surgeonfish, one of the types of fish that is a candidate for our idea of adding another fish to tank A. We are looking into how the species of fish school and interact with other surgeonfish, the main type of fish we currently have in tank A. 4.Parmentier, E., et al. "Geographical Variation in Sound Production in the Anemonefish Amphiprion akallopisos." Proceedings: Biological Sciences (2005): Print. Journal entry about observed sounds in clown fish that could be construed as some form of communication/an ability to identify members of their own species. This could be a possible thing to study, because the journal said that similar noises were observed in the same species up to 1000 km away. Implying that these noises/communication could be intrinsic to certain species of fish.