Shoaling reduces metabolic rate in a gregarious coral reef fish species

Brief description

The dataset contains data on the effect of social isolation on body condition over time and the acute effect of shoaling on metabolic rate.

Full description

We examined the effect of shoaling on metabolism and body condition in the gregarious damselfish Chromis viridis at the Lizard Island Research Station in the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. This experiment was conducted from November to December 2014. Fish held in isolation for one week exhibited a reduction in body condition (Fulton's K Condition Factor = 100*(Body Mass/Standard Length^3) when compared to those held in shoals. Using a novel respirometry methodology for social species, we found that the presence of shoal-mate visual and olfactory cues led to a reduction in the estimated standard metabolic rate of individuals. These results indicate that social isolation due to environmental disturbance could have physiological consequences for gregarious species.

The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

Notes

This dataset is available as a spreadsheet in MS Excel (.xlsx) and Open Document formats (.ods)