Social interactions in medaka fish depend on discrete kinematic states of swimming behavior
Abstract
Complex collective behaviors such as schooling are believed to emerge from simple, individual-level computations that translate incoming information from conspecifics into actions. 1 1. Couzin, I.D. ∙ Krause, J. ∙ James, R. ... Collective memory and spatial sorting in animal groups J. Theor. Biol. 2002; 218 :1-11 Crossref Scopus (1855) PubMed Google Scholar , 2 2. Aoki, I. A simulation study on the schooling mechanism in fish Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi. 1982; 48 :1081-1088 Crossref Scopus (448) Google Scholar , 3 3. Huth, A. ∙ Wissel, C. The simulation of fish schools in comparison with experimental data Ecol. Modell. 1994; 75–76 :135-146 Crossref Scopus (167) Google Scholar , 4 4. Huth, A. ∙ Wissel, C. The simulation of the movement of fish schools J. Theor. Biol. 1992; 156 :365-385 Crossref Scopus (466) Google Scholar , 5 5. Vicsek, T. ∙ Czirók, A. ∙ Ben-Jacob, E. ... Novel type of phase transition in a system of self-driven particles Phys. Rev. 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Biol. 1974; 48 :215-229 Crossref Scopus (242) PubMed Google Scholar , 34 34. Ashraf, I. ∙ Van Wassenbergh, S. ∙ Verma, S. Burst-and-coast swimming is not always energetically beneficial in fish (Hemigrammus bleheri) Bioinspir. Biomim. 2020; 16 , 016002 Crossref Scopus (18) PubMed Google Scholar , 35 35. Amichay, G. ∙ Li, L. ∙ Nagy, M. ... Revealing the mechanism and function underlying pairwise temporal coupling in collective motion Nat. Commun. 2024; 15 , 4356 Crossref Scopus (15) PubMed Google Scholar medaka exhibit continuous tail and body undulations. 31 31. Mearns, D.S. ∙ Hunt, S.A. ∙ Schneider, M.W. ... Diverse prey capture strategies in teleost larvae eLife. 2025; 13 , RP98347 Crossref PubMed Google Scholar We show that this continuous behavior can be segmented into three distinct kinematic states: acceleration, deceleration, and prolonged constant-speed swimming. Using state-dependent computational models, 15 15. Harpaz, R. ∙ Tkačik, G. ∙ Schneidman, E. Discrete modes of social information processing predict individual behavior of fish in a group Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2017; 114 :10149-10154 Crossref Scopus (37) PubMed Google Scholar , 18 18. Bod’ová, K. ∙ Mitchell, G.J. ∙ Harpaz, R. ... Probabilistic models of individual and collective animal behavior PLoS One. 2018; 13 , e0193049 Crossref Scopus (21) PubMed Google Scholar we tested how medaka translate social information from neighbors into actions across these kinematic states. The models revealed distinct computations governing social information processing and movement responses in each state. Moreover, social responsiveness varied significantly between states: it was strongest during constant-speed epochs, intermediate during accelerations, and lowest during decelerations. These findings highlight discrete behavioral modes as key modulators of social interaction computations underlying collective behavior.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Fish biology
ecology
and behavior
Distributed Control Multi-Agent Systems
Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Current Biology
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1300–1309.e5
- Publication date
- 17 February 2026
- Language
- EN