#Jacob Johansen

As Earth’s climate changes, current scientific models predict that by 2050, coral reef fishes could shrink by 14% to 39% due to elevated temperatures. However, a team of researchers have uncovered surprising survival tactics by coral reef fish who inhabit the Arabian Gulf, the warmest waters on Earth.

While we typically attribute the long-lasting bonds of social familiarity to complex thinkers like humans, growing evidence indicates that we underestimate the importance of friendship networks in seemingly “simple” animals, such as fish, and its importance for survival in the wild. To better understand how familiarity impacts social fishes, a group of research scientists studied this idea using schooling coral reef fish.