The term dither fish refers to an arbitrary group of aquarium fish used by cichlid keeping aquarists to reduce innate timidity in some species of cichlids (Barlow, 1967). Dither fish swim around the top of a tank and this behavior lets shier fish know that there are no predators around and allows them to relax and venture out more. The technique relies on the ability of cichlids in an aquarium to use the behaviour of other fish species as a measure of environmental security (Loiselle, 1979). Good dither fish are typically schooling species such as some Danio species, barbs and some tetra species.
[edit] References
- Barlow, GW (1968) Dither--a way to reduce undesirable fright behavior in ethological studies. Z. Tierpsychol 25:315-318.
- Loiselle, PV (1979) On dither fish. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine November:30-34, 76-79 (also online).
