DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tx95x6b2p
title: Environmental impacts on visual perception modulate behavioral responses of schooling fish to looming predators

description: Aggregation in socially living fishes has evolved to improve safety from
 predators. The individual interaction mechanisms that govern collective
 behavior are determined by the sensory systems that translate
 environmental information into behavior. In dynamic environments, shifts
 in conditions impede effective visual sensory perception in fish schools
 and may induce changes in the collective response. Here, we consider
 whether environmental conditions that affect visual contrast modulate the
 collective response of schools to looming predators. By using a virtual
 environment to simulate four contrast levels, we tested whether the
 collective state of fish schools was modified in response to a looming
 optical stimulus. Our results indicate that fish swam slower and were less
 polarized in lower contrast conditions. Additionally, schooling metrics
 known to be regulated by non-visual sensory systems became more correlated
 with decreasing contrast. Over the course of the escape response, schools
 remained tightly formed and retained the capability of transferring social
 information. Results suggest that when visual perception is compromised,
 the interaction rules governing collective behavior are modified to
 prioritize ancillary sensory information crucial to maximizing the chance
 of escape. Finally, these results imply that multiple sensory systems can
 integrate to control collective behavior in environments with unreliable
 visual information.
description: # Environmental impacts on visual perception modulate behavioral responses
 of schooling fish to looming predators: This dataset consists of the
 quantified schooling behavior metrics for each experimental trial where
 the looming stimulus approaches the fish school within the Holocube
 virtual arena. * The species studied in these results is fathead minnow
 (*Pimephales promelas*) * A trial consists of the looming stimulus
 expanding from one face of the Holocube, passing through the arena, and
 contracting on the opposite side. * Both mean values of each schooling
 metric, as well as time series data over the behavioral response interval
 are included for each trial. * Trials were performed at four different
 environmental contrast levels: high, medium-high, medium-low, and low. ##
 Data and File Structure Description Two main data files are included: **1)
 Means Data:** This dataset contains the quantified schooling behavior
 parameters (nearest neighbor distance, Angle to the nearest neighbor,
 speed, polarization, correlation length) at the given contrast level. The
 school population sampled in the trial has been annotated to account for
 the potential random effect. Abbreviations: * NND - Nearest Neighbor
 Distance Angle * Nearest Neighbor Angle * CorrLength - Correlation Length
 * PopNum - Population Number **2) Time Series Data:** This dataset,
 tabulated separately in five separate files, contains the quantified
 schooling behavior parameters (nearest neighbor distance, Angle to the
 nearest neighbor, speed, polarization, correlation length) at the given
 contrast level for each time step in the behavioral response interval. The
 parameter quantified is called out in the title of each file in
 parenthesis as such: Time Series Data (Parameter Name).csv Abbreviations:
 * variable - time step in the behavioral response interval, quantified as
 a categorical variable. Example: X1 signifies time step 1 in the response,
 out of 10 total time steps for every trial. (X1-X10) * value - quantified
 parameter value denoted in the csv title (units are respective for each
 parameter)