Barracuda I have known

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The focus of biological sciences over the past century has largely been on the 'average,' whereby the individual differences apparent among animals and the variation that exists in natural systems were treated as bothersome 'noise' and discounted through the use of appropriate statistical methods. In recent years, however, coincident with the rise of postmodern ecology, the importance of the individual is being reassessed, particularly in terms of animal behavior. Although differences in behavior between and within individuals may render ineffectual the statistical methods that biologists have painstakingly learned to apply, they have the potential to say a lot about the patterns of the real system, in all its staggering complexity. Great barracuda exhibit pronounced individual variation in behavior, often manifested as distinct 'personalities' that can become very apparent to divers who regularly dive with these fish.