How smart are Fish

[sslak]

Fish can learn, just like any other domestic animal.

My mandarin goes to the same rock every night to eat the Rod's Food I squirt out of a glass pipette, into a small "dish" shaped part of the rock. She hangs out there as soon as the pumps turn off, just waiting to chow down. She eats everything I put on the rock, and swims away when it's gone.

It's no differen than a cat or dog going to the food dish at feeding time.

Fish are smarter than most people give them credit for.

 

[Pickupman66]

the fish in my old tank were quite leery of anyone who was new to the house. any guests we had, the fish would all hide and not be seen, but when I or my family were there, they were all very visible and doing their thing. they knew us as their "caretakers" and would not acknowledge a newb to the house. This included 3 tangs, a pair of clowns and some others.

my new fish to have a tendency to follow me around the tank and do not illicit the same response from visitors as well. they know my wife and oldest child and are very active from them. two of the trio of tangs will eat from my hand. the purple is not there yet, but is very agitated when we are feeding nori from my or my 5yo's hand. my sohal will nibble on my fingers when I am working in the tank. Funny fish as they do all have their own individual personalities. this purple tang is no where near like the one from my old tank.

 

[scubasteve06]

A lot of you have said how your fish recognize you over other people. My Niger Trigger and lyretail hawkfish are the same way. Whenever my mom or dad would come up to the tank he would completely ignore them and sometimes head for the rock work. As soon as I walked up while they were still standing there, he would come straight up to the surface and begin to squirt water at me. Whenever and it didn't matter when I would walk up to the tank he would come to the surface lie on his side and flap and splash me with water. If that didn't work he would resort to squirting it at me. My hawkfish does the same thing, parents no reaction whatsoever he just perches and stares. When I walk up he comes hauling tail out the rocks and swims at the surface. My trigger and hawkfish always went to the same spots in the tank where I would feed them everyday every time they did this. My trigger would actually follow me around the tank as I went from one end to the other squirting water and splashing me by flapping his fins.

As soon as my hand would go into the water the hawkfish would gently nibble my fingers along with the trigger. The trigger would actually nudge my hand with his head in a gentle ramming motion and then nibble nibble nibble. I told my dad to do it once because he asked what it felt like, and I told him that it was a gentle nibble. Well when he put his hand in the trigger bit the crap out of him lol. My cleaner shrimp hardly ever clean any of the fish in my tank but as soon as I put my hand near them they immediately jump on my hand and arm and begin to clean all up and down my hand. Whenever I am cleaning my tank or sand bed my blenny swims up and sits right next to my hand or whatever I am doing in the tank. I think he is expecting a treat I miss my trigger as I've had FW fish before and they wouldn't exhibit this type of behavior. It didn't matter who fed them they acted the same. I think that since SW fish can move each eye independently and crane their necks that they have much better vision than other fish. When on the reef they have to see colors and every bit of their surrounding to know what is going on. So I think that they learn how certain people walk and move and I think they can recognize a size difference in the people that come close to them and the tank.

 

[seapug]

If my purple tang sees the plastic measuring cup I use for feeding it goes nuts. I can't even keep it on a shelf 20 feet away from the tank. I have to completely hide the feeding cup so it can't be seen from anywhere inside the tank.

I also have a female maroon clown that is such a pig it practically does the Sea World style "beaching" on the rim of the tank when it's feeding time. I'm worried if she gets one fin over the edge she's going to hop out and walk out the front door.

 

[Outerbank]

They know to eat; have sex; recognize food sources, danger, and safety; and beat up anyone smaller than them in their own territory. That's about it, IMO.

 

[newtank]

I observed my Humu trigger attacking his reflection, then he paused... turned his body completely horizontal watched his reflection doing the same thing and then swam away to go about his business.

I completely interpret this as the fish conducting an experiment and arriving at a conclusion that the "other fish" was himself. Watching that entire incident unfold I am convenced that he is much more inteligent than I had ever given them credit for.

 

[vikubz]

Their IQ rises to 350 the instant I decide I need to catch one.

 

[Shaun Mars]

I have an angel fish that used to let the skunk cleaner shrimp jump on it and pick on its body. One day I found the shrimp eating my small percula clown fish. I'm not sure if the clown died and the shrimp was just eating the dead body or if the shrimp contributed to its death. The angel seemed to hover around the shrimp when the shrimp was having its 'meal'.
Anyway, after that I noticed that the angel liked to 'attack' the shrimp when it got near the angel or if the shrimp was picking the body of another fish, as if to break them up.
Maybe the angel figures that the shrimp is 'no good' and wants to tell me so lol

 

[rioshilo]

I think my dogface puffer can count... at least to two. When I feed he gets two clams on the halfshell, has for a few months now. First one gets dropped into the tank and he chases it down to the bottom, usually sucking it mostly clean before it hits the sand. He then rushes up to the top for the second one and so I drop it and he chases it down. Then rather then come back up for a third one he stays down at the bottom and picks both shells completely bare. On the rare occasion I only feed one, when he rushes back up to the top and there's no clam he stays up there for a minute or so waiting before going back down to finish off the first one.

Now if I could just train him not to eat coral so I could keep more then sofites and leathers in that tank...

 

[89Foxbody]

Their IQ rises to 350 the instant I decide I need to catch one.

Hilarious and so true at the same time.

 

[scubasteve06]

I observed my Humu trigger attacking his reflection, then he paused... turned his body completely horizontal watched his reflection doing the same thing and then swam away to go about his business.

I completely interpret this as the fish conducting an experiment and arriving at a conclusion that the "other fish" was himself. Watching that entire incident unfold I am convenced that he is much more inteligent than I had ever given them credit for.

That is a very interesting observation. I think that scientists have found that only certain mammals such as dolphins and apes are able to truly recognize themself in a mirror.

 

[scubasteve06]

I think my dogface puffer can count... at least to two. When I feed he gets two clams on the halfshell, has for a few months now. First one gets dropped into the tank and he chases it down to the bottom, usually sucking it mostly clean before it hits the sand. He then rushes up to the top for the second one and so I drop it and he chases it down. Then rather then come back up for a third one he stays down at the bottom and picks both shells completely bare. On the rare occasion I only feed one, when he rushes back up to the top and there's no clam he stays up there for a minute or so waiting before going back down to finish off the first one.

Now if I could just train him not to eat coral so I could keep more then sofites and leathers in that tank...

I think this is more of a learned behavior such as certain peoples movements and sizes that approach the tank.

Case in point, today I went to the local drag strip to watch some of the 20k purse action going on. While I was gone I had my mother feed my tank for me. When I got home I asked if any of them decided to nibble on her hand (which my hawkfish always does to me, and he also comes flying to the surface whenever I approach the tank). She said that the only fish that actually came to the surface were my school of 7 blue/green chromis. She said that the hawkfish circled her hand once while the food was in it, and only picked food out of the water column several feet away from her hand. He always eats directly from my fingers or centimeters away from it. Coincidence?