Evolution of Schooling Behavior in Fish

Abstract

Evolution of schooling behavior in fish is discussed. For the first time, schooling was formed in early Teleostei ca 200–220 Ma years BP. There are no strict data on the presence of this form of social behavior in older Craniata. It is supposed that the evolutionary path of schooling followed from asociality to protoschools and then to true equipotential schools. The schooling behavior might disappear and appear again repeatedly and independently in different groups of teleosteans. Formation of schooling depended on Teleostei’s mode of life, first of all, on distribution to the pelagial, and it did not strictly depend on the evolutionary age or phylogenetic relationships of taxonomic groups or particular species. Schooling might be transformed into other types of social behavior. The scheme of evolution of the schooling behavior is suggested.