Unlike traditional behavior seen in schools of fish, the catfish in the aggregations did not all point in the same direction and sometimes came into contact with their neighbors. Researchers were not able to determine the reason for this behavior, though they ruled out reproduction, foraging, and safety from predators.

The species originates from Eastern Europe and is not native to the Rhone, so the researchers were curious what effect these large aggregations may have on the local ecosystem. They calculate that the groups of fish could excrete extremely large amount of phosphorous and nitrogen in their waste, creating potentially the highest biogeochemical hotspots reported in freshwater ecosystems.