Chromis Atripectoralis Video (VIDEO)

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science

Caption

This the first document of any fish larvae swimming in the pelagic environment, and it is also the first observation of group behavior in fish larvae in the natural world. You will notice that the group of C. atripectoralis larvae is staying cohesive, spreading along the horizontal in a formation resembling a flock of birds. Changes of direction are initiated by one or a individuals, almost immediately followed by the others. The leading individuals do not seem to be the same across the 10 mins of observation.

Credit

Claire Paris, author of the study and Ricardo Paris. The following technique was pioneered by Jeff Leis, also author of the study.

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