Coral trout, a species of fish, appears to be just as good as chimps at selecting team members for a task, according to a new study.
Coral trout are speedy and adept at chasing prey above coral reefs. However, if the target animal swims between the fingers of coral, the hunter fish employs another method to capture its meal.
Moray eel, a snake-like marine animal, is employed in an effort to capture the elusive prey. Coral trout use body language, including headstands and body shaking, to signal the location of the prey to a nearby eel. This symbiotic relationship gives each animal a better chance to capture prey than either would have alone. If the Moray captures the prey, it eats. If the target animal is chased out from the coral field, the trout is given another chance to strike.
The study found coral trout were able to accurately determine when it would need a collaborator, and which nearby eel to enlist in the hunt. Earlier studies examined the ability of chimpanzees to select hunting partners, and those results were cross-examined with the study of the sharp-eyed fish.
"Like chimpanzees, trout can determine when a situation requires a collaborator and quickly learn to choose the most effective one. This study strengthens the case that a relatively small brain - compared to warm-blooded species - does not stop at least some fish species from possessing cognitive abilities that compare to or even surpass those of apes," Alexander Vail, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge, and lead researcher on the study, said.
Vail and his team of researchers assembled an artificial reef in laboratory conditions, and added artificial, controllable, Moray eels to the environment. Prey animals were introduced to the tank, followed by the coral trout.
Initially, the fish tried to enlist the help of the "eels," even when the prey was not hiding among the coral. Within a few days, the fish would only signal for help when the target was hidden within the reef.
Plectropomus leopardus is the first animal other than chimpanzees and humans shown to have an advanced method of choosing partners for the hunt.
"It's exciting to see a phenomenon in fish that looks similar to what we see in apes, including ourselves. It's findings like this that will help us understand how intelligent behavior evolves," Brian Hare, from Duke University in North Carolina, told the press.
Study of coral trout and their symbiotic relationship with Moray eels was detailed in the journal Current Biology.
