Shoaling and schooling behavior of fish

A school is a group of the same fish species swimming together in synchrony; turning, twisting and forming sweeping, glinting shapes in the water. Fish does this to confuse predators and to save energy. Schooling fish are usually of the same species and the same age and size and silvery, so its difficult for a visually oriented predator to pick an individual out of a mass of twisting, flashing fish and then have enough time to grab its prey before it disappears into the shoal. Fish schools move with the individual members precisely spaced from each other. The schools undertake complicated maneuvers, as though the schools have minds of their own.