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Swimming together lets fish move faster while expending less energy

We have always suspected that fish can make enormous energy savings by swimming in groups, and now we have the proof

By Michael Le Page

18 December 2023

Giant danio (Devario aequipinnatus)

Giant danio (Devario aequipinnatus) save energy by swimming together

blickwinkel/Alamy

Swimming in schools has massive energy-saving benefits for fish. A study in “water tunnels” has found that fish use half as much energy swimming at high speeds if they are in a school rather than alone, and they also recover in nearly half the time.

This helps explain why so many fish species swim in schools, write Yangfan Zhang and George Lauder at Harvard University.

It has long been…

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