Fish trust friends in a crisis
In social animals living in the wild, individuals rely on their buddies to alert them if a predator is lurking.
All animals aim to balance the risk of predation against the energy investment necessary to execute an escape, to maximise the number of correct reactions (e.g. reacting to the presence of a predator) and minimise reactions to inaccurate information (e.g. reacting to harmless stimuli).
Trust among individuals is critical. This is true for humans as well as many other species, including fishes.
Study co-author Jacob Johansen, Ph.D.