20:23 May 28, 2010 

Ich denke, es ist in der Tat die von den Fischen abgedeckte Oberfläche gemeint, denn wenn die einzelnen Körper gemeint wären, hieße es „auf die jeweiligen Fischflächen".

15:22 May 28, 2010 

Right, just registered your objection on the draft translation. No it is not exactly synonymous, but it is leaves room open for the ambiguity that exists in the original, since it is not as specific as body area and equally does not mention a whole shoal.

15:18 May 28, 2010 

I admit that was also my original reading, but then it seemed more likely that the distribution of these cells would be treated in relation to individual fish rather than a whole shoal and I revised my opinion. As for your translation, I was referring to the fact that it is not exactly synonymous with either and could therefore be interpreted as covering either, since you freely admit the original is somewhat ambiguous.

13:43 May 28, 2010 

I certainly wouldn't have thought that "the area of fish" could be interpreted either as being synonymous with "the surface area of their bodies" or as "ihre Körperfläche". I initially understood Fischfläche as the area (of water) occupied by the fish, as Bernd does, although it seems somewhat ambiguous.

13:18 May 28, 2010 

I agree with lirka that both refer to the surface area of the fish's body rather than the area occupied by the shoal, although I think your translation sidesteps the problem nicely!

11:09 May 28, 2010 

They refer to the body surface area of the fish.

09:26 May 28, 2010 

My main question is, should Fischfläche and Körperfläche be considered synonymous, or do they refer to entirely different areas?

Draft translation:

"If the maxima for the distribution of the Voronoi cell sizes are standardised over the area of fish for both fish species (see Fig. 11), it is evident that the Penguin Tetra aim to maintain a significantly larger Voronoi cell size – relative to the surface area of their bodies – than Tiger Barbs. This is evidently a species-specific characteristic."