Schooling also increases the efficiency of swimming for fish. Drafting in the wake of their schoolmates allows fish to conserve energy, swim longer and even consume less oxygen than they would if swimming alone. Generally comprised of fish of the same age and size, schools typically face in one direction and exhibit synchronized movements. Each fish maintains an exact spacing from its neighbor. As they swim, they follow the movements of their neighbors and change their course in unison.
Vision is the primary sense used to hold their place in a school.
Because of this dependence on vision, schools break up or at least lose their internal structure at night. The vibration-detecting lateral line, a row of sensory cells that runs along the sides of the body, also provides information about neighbors' movements. Schooling species familiar to North Carolina's freshwater include threadfin and gizzard shad, golden shiners, white bass, and white bass-striped bass hybrids. North Carolina marine schoolers include herring, mackerel, bluefish , mullet , jack , pompano and menhaden .