Who doesn’t love watching their fish? It’s mesmerising – and we know it’s good for our mental health. But now you can turn those observations into citizen science with a new initiative from the University of Glasgow.
It’s just launched ShoalBase, a global, open database of fish social behaviour. It aims is to bring together observations of how fish live socially (schooling, shoaling, pairing, territoriality, group sizes, parental care, etc.), across as many species as possible.
There are many thousands of fish species but there’s little formal information on their social systems. A lot of the best knowledge is held by people who work with fish every day: importers, breeders, wholesalers, retailers, aquarists, and hobbyists. ShoalBase is designed to capture that knowledge in a simple, standardised way.
For the ornamental sector, these data can help to:
- Improve understanding of species’ social needs and welfare.
- Inform guidance on group sizes and housing.
- Highlight species where we know very little and might need extra care.
- Provide an evidence base that benefits both practitioners and regulators.
The site is completely open and non-commercial. Anyone can contribute a record by filling in a short online form (which takes just 1-2 mins to fill out), and everyday observations are just as valuable as rare or unusual behaviours.
