Invasive Fish Species Can Easily Learn from Natives

The learning rate may affect invasive species’ success in settling in new environments and speed up invasion. In this study, we investigated whether invasive species are capable of social learning. We conducted an experiment in which invasive in Europe, naiveCarassius gibelio fish had the opportunity to learn from experienced fish-teachers. The measure of learning was the reduction in the time it took the fish to find food in an I-maze. To test whether invasive species could learn from other species, we conducted a similar experiment with the native European fish-teacher Carassius carassius. Our results show that invasive species are capable of social learning: all tested naive fish learned from teachers. Interestingly invasive individuals learn on average+-SD 1.3 times faster in social learning than in individual ones. Fish individuals learn just as effectively from teachers of the same species as from other species. Fish-students reduced the time to find food by more than 4.5 and more than 5 times, respectively. Social interspecies learning of invasive fish may be another key factor shaping the relationship between species, making it easier for invasives to conquer new environments.