Multidimensional social influence drives leadership and composition-dependent success in octopus-fish hunting groups.

ABSTRACT: Collective behaviour, social interactions and leadership in animal groups are often driven by individual differences. However, most studies focus on same-species groups, in which individual variation is relatively low. Multispecies groups, however, entail interactions among highly divergent phenotypes, ranging from simple exploitative actions to complex coordinated networks. Here we studied hunting groups of otherwise-solitary Octopus cyanea and multiple fish species, to unravel hidden mechanisms of leadership and associated dynamics in functional nature and complexity, when divergence is maximized. Using three-dimensional field-based tracking and field experiments, we found that these groups exhibit complex functional dynamics and composition-dependent properties. Social influence is hier

SUBMITTER: Sampaio E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11541198 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature