To explore the effects of species and starvation on group foraging behavior of fish species from different habitats and with shoaling characteristics. The juveniles of qingbo ( Spinibarbus sinensis ) and cichlid ( Pseudotropheus zebra ), two species with different social interaction characteristics, different habitat food resources and environmental conditions were selected as experimental subjects. The exploration behavior, cohesion, latency to food arm, and percent time stayed in the food arm of starved and normal-fed (control group) fish were measured in foraging scenarios set by the six-armed maze. Compared with qingbo, cichlid exhibited more group exploration behavior and lower fish cohesion. Moreover, starvation resulted in decreased exploration behavior, shorten latency to food arm, and higher percentage time stayed in food arm of cichlid, whereas only the percentage of time stayed in food arm decreased time slightly in qingbo. There were interspecific differences in the foraging behavior between cichlid and qingbo, and only cichlid showed adaptive behavioral response to food shortage according to group foraging behavior. It may be related to the different distribution of food resources in natural habitats between two species.