Dataset from Fish teamwork on coral reefs.xlsx

Collaborative hunting is a typical cooperative behaviour seen in the animal kingdom. Our study examined how individual false cleanerfish, <i>Aspidontus taeniatus</i> (Blenniidae) engage in collaborative hunting on coral reefs. False cleanerfish were observed forming groups of two to 15 individuals and conducting raids on the spawning nests of 19 territorial damselfishes (Pomacentridae), preying on their guarded eggs. One to four damselfish parent fish defended their nests through aggressive chasing and biting. Despite this nest defence, the false cleanerfish successfully raided the nests by employing a group hunting strategy involving five distinct behavioural patterns: “decoy,” “waiting,” “encircling,” “hiding,” and “surprise attack”. These patterns were statistically predicted by six variables related to the ease of detectability by damselfish parents, the strength of the nest defence, the size of the raid group, and the duration of raiding, suggesting that collaborative hunting has emerged in response to the varied defensive behaviours of the target damselfishes. Additionally, we found evidence that all members of raid groups obtained immediate shared benefits, specifically by preying on eggs. These results suggest that collaborative hunting involving “division of roles” may evolve through relatively simple mutualistic interactions within conspecifics.