The influence of social status on shoaling preferences in the freshwater angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)

[Shoal choice studies have revealed that fish have cognitive abilities to discriminate between groups of different composition. In this work, the role of social status (based on aggressive acts) of both the test fish and the fish in the stimulus shoals was examined because of the fitness-related consequences that group association may have for the test individual. Single angelfish of high and low social status (dominant and subordinate) were...