Title: Multidimensionality of leadership and emergent feedback mechanisms revealed by interspecific groups

<Abstract>

The study of collective animal behavior has focused predominantly on within-species interactions. Multi-species groups, however, are ubiquitous in nature and can exhibit complex interaction scenarios where very different phenotypes coordinate species-specific strategies within heterogeneous interaction networks. Here we employ 3D field-based tracking to study the coordination dynamics underlying mobile hunting groups composed of Octopus cyanea and multiple species of fish partners. We find that leadership in octopus-fish groups is not despotic, but hierarchical; moreover, leadership of groups predominantly involves multiple dimensions of influence. We find there exists an interplay between social network structure, individual investment levels and collective action, based on positive and negative feedback mechanisms driven by species composition. This process alters the octopus' foraging strategy, and can trigger the emergence of direct negative feedback (partner control) mechanisms. These results highlight how differently-specialized individuals self-organize and give rise to emergent behaviors and states, paving the way for a more comprehensive theoretical framework of leadership, and its potential implementation in other fields, such as heterogeneous groups of autonomous robots.

Meeting URL: https://oist.zoom.us/j/92202229504?pwd=UHVtbHZCYVdIY2ZIUWZYSE9teFU4UT09