FISH SCHOOLING BEHAVIOR IN WATER TANKS OF DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES

This paper describes the influence of water tank shape and size on the schooling behavior of fish. In this experiment, we used two dimension al water tanks of two different shapes, i.e. circular and square, of v arious diameters and side lengths between 50 and 125cm. Fish schooling behavior was expressed mathematically in terms of the Sannomiya and M atuda model which comprises of seven linear forces influencing fish be havior. The results showed that all forces except the propulsive force were independent of tank size and that schooling and attractive force s against the walls were strongest in the circular tanks. The random f orce was greatest in magnitude, accounting for approximately 60-75% of the total, followed by the repulsive force to the walls and the schoo ling force which affected fish schooling behavior. Fish schooling in s quare tanks tended to behave irregularly and remain in the tank corner s.