Three-spined sticklebacks compensate for murky water by becoming more socially coordinated rather than continuing to use the same shoaling rules.
Experiments showed that fish in turbid water swam closer together, aligned more strongly and reacted more readily to nearby group members. Although cloudiness delayed discovery of food overall, coordinated small shoals reached it faster than less cohesive ones. Group size also changed the benefit of coordination, showing that the useful interaction rule depends jointly on environmental uncertainty and the number of participating agents.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-muddying-stickleback-fish.html
