Size-segregative behaviour in minnow shoals

Shoals composed of equal numbers of two size-classes of European minnows were observed undisturbed, feeding and after threat from a pike in a large arena tank.
The time/frequency budget and analysed sequences of behaviour of the two size-classes were very similar. Irrespective of size, for standard behaviour measures, fish in the shoal behaved similarly under the same external influences, including predator threat.
In contrast, however, the distribution of the two size-classes provided evidence of size segregation within the shoal. This was brought about by individual minnows making shoaling responses preferentially to their own size-class. After exposure to the predator, shoaling responses changed and differed between small and large minnows.
The outcomes of contests at foraging patches were governed primarily by fish size and information asymmetry rather than by occupation of a feeding site.
The experiment shows that asymmetrical pay-offs in foraging and in response to predator threat are the probable reasons for size-segregation behaviours. This conclusion supports the views of earlier workers that mechanical sorting by swimming speed is not an important factor in size segregation in shoals.