# shoal vs school?



## sublime guy (Mar 28, 2009)

what is the difference between the two.
i'm just curios bc i always say both in the mags i read


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

they are similar but different...have you ever watched a school of fish in the ocean that seems to move in unison like synchronized swimming?.... one turns and they all turn at the same instant.....that is a SCHOOL...

when you see a group of fish swimming together ; but not in unison..some go one way ; others go another...... that is a SHOAL...

i may have these reversed ; i don't know..since it is not that important to what i do; i don't pay much attention..


----------



## SouthernBelle23 (Mar 24, 2009)

I agree with loha's definitions.


----------



## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

I didn't know that. See, learn something new everyday.


----------



## N0z (Jun 3, 2009)

loha that = intormative


----------



## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

lohachata pretty much summed up the way I learned it.

This spring I enjoyed a very informative talk on tetras given by Dr. Wolfgang Staeck at the NEC convention - he pointed out how many tetras that we think of as "schooling" fishes are barely even shoaling fishes in the wild (the example he had video of was "serpae" tetras, which were behaving almost like dwarf cichlids with little territories in the wild). He used common "rummy nose" tetras as a great example of a truly schooling fish that does what Loha described, moving in unison (syncronished swimming). common zebra danios come to mind as a classic "shoaling" fish.

I think that in terms of most aquarium displays, the difference is pretty negligable - both shoaling and schooling fishes do better in groups IMO. However, I do find that especially large schools of true schooling fishes can be some of the most impressive displays, especially in sufficiently large aquaria for the school to move naturally (ie a few hundred rummy nose tetras in a large planted aquarium are amazing to see)


----------



## <3~Pleco~<3 (Jan 31, 2009)

i wish I could get 100 rummynose tetras in my tank. 
Imagine the cost though! You would have to have dibs on the pet stores shipments for a long time.


----------

