Might be stupid question but...

[Josh Q]

...what is a shoal? I see it used a lot in fish books, websites, ect when talking about how many fish of one kind to have in a tank. Thanks.
-Josh

 

[BIANCA]

a schoal pronounced school, is basically a group of the same species of fish that swims together.

 

[Josh Q]

That's what I assumed but wanted to make sure before buying a bunch of fish that weren't suppose to be together.
-Josh

 

[StiX]

Actually:

School A group of fish that swim in a synchronised manner, i.e. with similar speeds and direction. They also display a consistent Nearest Neighbour Distance (NND), which means they maintain the same distance between all immediately adjacent fish.

Shoal Fish which are randomly orientated within a group and exhibit a variable NND. Shoals of fish on the move nearly always form schools.

 

[Great Lakes]

Well Stix, aren't we just turning into Mr Knowitall...