Data from: Familiarity affects social network structure and discovery of prey patch locations in foraging stickleback shoals

Numerous factors affect the fine-scale social structure of animal groups,
but it is unclear how important such factors are in determining how
individuals encounter resources. Familiarity affects shoal choice and
structure in many social fishes. Here, we show that familiarity between
shoal members of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) affects both
fine-scale social organization and the discovery of resources. Social
network analysis revealed that sticklebacks remained closer to familiar
than to unfamiliar individuals within the same shoal. Network-based
diffusion analysis revealed that there was a strong untransmitted social
effect on patch discovery, with individuals tending to discover a task
sooner if a familiar individual from their group had previously done so
than if an unfamiliar fish had done so. However, in contrast to the effect
of familiarity, the frequency with which individuals had previously
associated with one another had no effect upon the likelihood of prey
patch discovery. This may have been due to the influence of fish on one
another's movements; the effect of familiarity on discovery of an
empty ‘control’ patch was as strong as for discovery of an actual prey
patch. Our results demonstrate that factors affecting fine-scale social
interactions can also influence how individuals encounter and exploit
resources.