Group personality, rather than acoustic noise, causes variation in group decision-making in guppy shoals

Group living has essential fitness benefits for many species. While numerous studies have explored how environmental conditions impact collective movement, their impact on decisions made in a social context—a central component of group-living—is poorly documented. In this study, we assess how acoustic noise impacts group decision-making, cohesion and activity in fish shoals, using Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) as a model species. Movements within a radially symmetric five-armed maze were measured using high-resolution trajectory data from video-tracking software. The behaviour of groups with and without continuous acoustic white noise were measured over a four-day testing period in a repeated-measures design. We found no significant change in swimming speed or group cohesion with additional acoustic noise. However, there was evidence for fewer following events (moves into already occupied arms) in the noise treatment compared to the control, but this additional noise had no effect on leadership attempts (moves into empty arms). We found strong evidence for consistent, repeatable differences between groups in all behavioural parameters indicating strong personality variation at the group level. Rather than environmental factors, these results provide evidence that consistent group-level differences dominate variation in collective behaviour, including group decision-making, in fish shoals.