Often animal groups are studied as a coordinated system of individuals of same species. However, in aquatic habitats, fishes regularly encounter other species, which can influence their movement, association and responses to environment. In interactions between native and invasive species, these might appear through aggression or shifts in group organisation, resource access and stability of their behaviour.
In this study we use Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Rosy barb (Pethia conchonius) as a model mixed species group, to understand how species-level behavioural differences can alter group organisation. Firstly, we will explore if Tilapia and Rosy barb have distinct behavioural patterns and how these change in mixed species group. Further we will study how individual interactions might lead to group level decision patterns, influencing behavioural changes like following, group splitting, resource approach etc. Next we will use longer observation durations to analyse whether mixed species interactions remain temporary or it develops into stable patterns of dominance, avoidance, resource use etc. Finally, we will extend this framework to natural freshwater habitats beyond lab setups, where flow, substrate, vegetation, turbidity and naturally occurring, and species associations might shape behavioural space.
By observing mixed species groups in various contexts we can explore how native -invasive interactions take shape through behaviour. The focus of this study is not only on the presence of an invasive species , but how its presence might alter behavioural interactions in mixed species groups , including movement, association, competition, avoidance and resource use.