Fish are smarter than we think stories

[humaguy]

Do you still have the video? because I would love to see it. I recently watched a documentary about octopussies?..woops..I mean octopi which basically proved that they are capable of complex reasoning and problem solving.

As for personal experiences with fish, I had a dwarf fuzzy lionfish that used to beg for food and even 'sit' on the palm of my hand. Pretty common behaviour among lionfish if i'm not mistaken.

I need to search for it, lol, was almost 30 years ago....
one of my roommates was obsessed with cephs...he could put a goldfish in a mayo jar with the top on and drop it in the tank and the octopus quickly figured out he could unscrew the top and get a snack..this behavior has been well documented...

 

[namxas]

Back when we were keeping/breeding SH, we had a male H. erectus that needed repeated pouch evacuations, which meant grabbing it up, putting a catheter in his pouch, and letting the air out of it.

Renee (seahorsedreams) was the one who did most of the handling, and that SH finally decided it didn't like her because of this. Whenever she would approach the tank, he would buck and shake...it honestly looked like he was convulsing. I could walk up and there was no such reaction.

 

[humaguy]

Back when we were keeping/breeding SH, we had a male H. erectus that needed repeated pouch evacuations, which meant grabbing it up, putting a catheter in his pouch, and letting the air out of it.

Renee (seahorsedreams) was the one who did most of the handling, and that SH finally decided it didn't like her because of this. Whenever she would approach the tank, he would buck and shake...it honestly looked like he was convulsing. I could walk up and there was no such reaction.

I don't blame the sh for having that reaction, lol...

 

[namxas]

That particular SH was a PITA to treat...it could "crunch" its pouch shut so tightly that it took both of us to do the evac.

 

[humaguy]

lol, I would do the same if somebody was trying to "evacuate" my "pouch."
...and I am fairly sure that is illegal in certain states....:lmao:

 

[dixiedog]

I mail ordered a small school of Discus once (yes freshwater, but it's a fascinating story). They were all juveniles of the same size. I had acclimated them and released them into a 75.

It was late evening, the lights in the house were dim and the tank lights had been off since the newbies arrived. But I was watching them intently. The whole school (maybe eight fish) was doing a fascinating "dance" ... up the glass, down the glass, up the glass, down the glass, all together ... except one. He was off to one side, motionless, at the bottom. I figured that would be the one who wouldn't survive.

Here's where it got interesting.

I watched one fish break away from the all the others, and go round up the straggler! It was so obvious what he was saying, hey, come swim with us, don't be down here alone, you'll die by yourself. Come join us, that's it ... come on now ... join the dance ...

It was really remarkable to watch. It's been years ago but I'll never forget it.

 

[humaguy]

I mail ordered a small school of Discus once (yes freshwater, but it's a fascinating story). They were all juveniles of the same size. I had acclimated them and released them into a 75.

It was late evening, the lights in the house were dim and the tank lights had been off since the newbies arrived. But I was watching them intently. The whole school (maybe eight fish) was doing a fascinating "dance" ... up the glass, down the glass, up the glass, down the glass, all together ... except one. He was off to one side, motionless, at the bottom. I figured that would be the one who wouldn't survive.

Here's where it got interesting.

I watched one fish break away from the all the others, and go round up the straggler! It was so obvious what he was saying, hey, come swim with us, don't be down here alone, you'll die by yourself. Come join us, that's it ... come on now ... join the dance ...

It was really remarkable to watch. It's been years ago but I'll never forget it.

excellent story...did he join?