Variation in social information use: the influences of information reliability and mass on decision making in a group-living fish Gambusia affinis.

The effect of the reliability of available social information was assessed by examining whether the age of social information changes its effects on a foraging decision in a group-living fish Gambusia affinis. Individuals switched their patch preference when faced with social information that conflicted with personal information in general; the age of the social information, however, did not significantly influence preference for feeding patch. The mass of decision makers was positively correlated with their use of available social information, with heavier individuals exhibiting a greater difference in patch preference than lighter individuals, suggesting that large and small G. affinis trade-off the benefits of information acquisition and the costs of competition from conspecifics differently.
(© 2013 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2013 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.)