Influence of Familiarity and Sex on Social Learning in a Group Living Fish

Social learning, learning via observation and imitation, is an ability that can help animals adapt to their environment.

Current research indicates that familiarity between the demonstrator and learner increases the likelihood

that animals engage in social learning. Sex differences in philopatry can result in the more philopatric sex

having a higher degree of familiarity with its groupmates than the dispersing sex. The aim of this study was to

test how familiarity and sex affect social learning in the matrilineal, group-living cichlid species, Neolamprologus

pulcher. A foraging assay was used to test the probability and speed of social learning in N. pulcher, and whether

these were influenced by familiarity with the demonstrator, the demonstrator’s sex, or the observer’s sex. We

found that familiarity did not have a clear effect on N. pulcher learning. Although demonstrator sex had no impact

on learning, female N. pulcher learned faster than their male counterparts. As one of the first experimental studies

to examine the factors influencing social learning in social cichlid fish, here we build upon the existing body of

literature on fish learning and explore how information spreads in groups. Such knowledge can shed light on the

behaviours, as well as the dynamics, and transmission of cultural traits in cichlids and other animals, contributing

to the growing understanding of decision-making and the cognition underlying cooperation in other taxa.