Fishy Food Fights

Male and female fish have been pitted against each other in food fights at Exeter’s Biosciences department.

And results from the fishy duels show it’s personality, not size, that counts.

Dory and Marlin could totally take this guy on

Tests were carried out on the sheepshead swordtail fish, which were placed in pairs in a fish tank.

Food was added, then uni experts in Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology filmed the food fight that followed.

The findings show aggression is key when food is in short supply, and small fish were able to batter their larger opponents in the food fights.

Gender also came into play – males tended to be more up for attacking opponents, while females were rarely up for a fight.

Exeter’s Dr Alistair Wilson said: “We wondered if we were witnessing a form of Napoleon, or small man, syndrome. Certainly our study indicates that small fish with an aggressive personality are capable of defeating their larger, more passive, counterparts when it comes to fights over food.

“The research suggests that personality can have far reaching implications for life and survival.”

DISCLAIMER: No fish were distressed or received physical injury during the food fights.