Editing Quorum sensing (section)

== Fish ==

Quorum sensing can function as a collective decision-making process in [[fish school]]s. A quorum response has been defined as "a steep increase in the probability of group members performing a given behaviour once a threshold minimum number of their group mates already performing that behaviour is exceeded".<ref name=Ward2012>{{cite journal | last1 = Ward | first1 = AJ | last2 = Krause | first2 = J | last3 = Sumpter | first3 = DJ | year = 2012 | title = Quorum decision-making in foraging fish shoals | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 3| page = e32411 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0032411| bibcode = 2012PLoSO...732411W | pmid=22412869 | pmc=3296701| doi-access = free }}</ref> A recent investigation showed that small groups of fish used consensus decision-making when deciding which fish model to follow. The fish did this by a simple quorum rule such that individuals watched the decisions of others before making their own decisions. This technique generally resulted in the 'correct' decision but occasionally cascaded into the 'incorrect' decision. In addition, as the group size increased, the fish made more accurate decisions in following the more attractive fish model.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Sumpter | first1 = D. | last2 = Krause | first2 = J | last3 = James | first3 = R. | last4 = Couzin | first4 = I. | last5 = Ward | first5 = A. | year = 2008 | title = Consensus decision making by fish | journal = Current Biology | volume = 18 | issue = 22| pages = 1773–1777 | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.064 | pmid = 19013067 | s2cid = 11362054 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2008CBio...18.1773S }}</ref> Consensus decision-making, a form of [[collective intelligence]], thus effectively uses information from multiple sources to generally reach the correct conclusion. Such behaviour has also been demonstrated in the shoaling behaviour of [[threespine stickleback]]s.<ref name=Ward2012 />