Collective intermittent exploration in fish schools is mediated by visual cues
Proud of my student, Deze Liu, for helping uncover new insights into the sensory and collective foundations of animal behavior. 
In this study, we investigated how fish balance cohesion and exploration under varying visual conditions. We found that with visual input, fish swim more actively and explore in shorter bursts, while the absence of visual input leads to longer, more dispersed exploration.
Using a data-driven stochastic model, we uncovered that fish behavior reflects a bistable landscape shaped by group dynamics and modulated by visual cues. Intriguingly, uncertainty peaks at intermediate distances, forcing fish to break indecision in a coin-flip-like manner.
Read more: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.250033