Fig. 2.

Schooling may confuse the lateral line of predators. Fin movements of a single fish emit a gradient that will approximate a point-shaped wave source. The unfilled, black, and gray dots represent point-shaped wave sources (prey-fish). A schematized lateral line (LL) organ of a predator is depicted in the upper part of the figure. The predatory fish LL may exploit the gradients produced by prey-fish movements. A lone fish (see pressure gradients of the black prey-fish in the center) would produce a symmetric gradient, while the combined gradients of three nearby fish will be more complicated. The complexity is likely to increase with the number of fish. The synchronized movements of many nearby fish may create a flat wave-front, possibly mimicking the pressure waves of a large animal. Developed from Braun and Coombs (2000). The figure is reproduced from Larsson (2009) with kind permission from Fish and Fisheries, Wiley-Blackwell