Schooling preferences for familiar fish in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata

Although schooling behaviour is an important antipredator response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in Trinidad it is not known whether fish elect to school with particular individuals. Familiarity is a simple mechanism that could lead to non-random associations within schools. In this paper we test the idea that prior experience of particular individuals influences the choice of partners during schooling. We show (in a laboratory study) that female guppies prefer to associate with familiar individuals. However, we are unable to detect any schooling preference for unfamiliar females from the same population.