Fish Are Way Smarter Than You Think

[@SciShow]

See the Mirror Test crossover video on SciShow Psych here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5LTnIGrd8h1ipI

[@thinkabout288]

this is kind of fishy to me 🦈🐠💨💨💨💨💨💨💨

[@SquirrelASMR]

I liked this style of video with dual hosts! I like the interactions and variety. Keeps my brain alert. Does anyone else feel the same?

[@anthonydavidson6139]

SciShow more scishow quiz show please!! 😥

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

Is there a scent based self-identification test?

[@drewdurant3835]

SciShow mirror mirror on the KZbin!

[@louislesch3878]

I had one goldfish that lived for 13 years and he would wake me up every morning when he was hungry by spitting gravel at the glass. He knew that it made a lot of noise and figured out that I would respond to that noise.

[@amberhawksong]

Wowie

[@lizi.2503]

Mine are about 4 years old and they do this.

[@doloresdsmith]

Wow cool!!

[@木白-g3l]

I observed one of the bigger fish in my tank bite off leaves and push them to the waste filter so the food grain won't flow into the filter

[@NTEDOG561]

@@木白-g3l is that a Nemo reference?

[@Master_Therion]

Of course they're smart. Every time 2 or more fish get together they're in a school.

[@thinkabout288]

GOOD ONE

[@srgkzy1294]

Hi, Dad !

[@FaceParrot]

OOF

[@sapphirII]

I'm missing seeing your comments in every video!

[@TerrariaGolem]

@spicywatermelon i hate my country

[@FirstNameLastName-qt2hz]

i knew that "3 second memory" bit was fishy

[@kobirasheed9332]

Good one

[@qu0zzi_353]

Wow. 👏

[@tserenjamtsbuyankhuu6505]

umm no they have 5 sec nemory

[@epcg2media]

lol

[@Sage_Oblouk]

Sadly fish still remain one of the most abused animals in the pet hobby. People need to respect these amazing animals and give them the proper care. Stop giving gold fish away at carnivals.

[@redmibaabu1958]

The inventor of the corona virus think the same He /she was like people are eating animals I have to do something So that's how the virus was originated only in China because they eat all animal, insects, plants And to lower the pollution, and to kill poor people from the world Viruses are not created by itself

[@claireyang7179]

yeah pet shelters take awful care of them and most people who buy fish think they don't need much care and don't rlly care if they die or not (at least not as much as they'd care about a mammal). also wild and farmed fish are killed at astonishingly high rates for seafood, much more than any land animals are

[@jdsguam]

You would rather the gold fish remain where exactly?

[@jdsguam]

@@claireyang7179 And your solution to all this?

[@claireyang7179]

​@@jdsguam to keep it simple, for pet, farmed, and wild fish, if demand goes down people won't breed/kill as many. as for how, it would need more widespread education (social media can help with that) before it becomes a commonly known thing and more people start to change

[@Seadalgo]

That awkward but brief moment when an octopus realizes his grouper friend also invited the moray

[@greggles1]

i know im a bit late but thats funny as

[@zuko1569]

Fish are so smart they were able to build Bikini Bottom and have their own economy, education system and hospitals. Damn

[@scottmantooth8785]

yeah...and that's only the part of their civilization they let us see

[@liriolua]

lets not forget they can light fire underwater

[@albericponcedeleon2696]

They can even teach other fish, crustaceans and echinoderms how to drive boats. Although they seem to have trouble with sponges.

[@scottmantooth8785]

@@albericponcedeleon2696 Porifera through no fault of their own do have a slight learning challenge in retaining cognitive skills even if done repeatedly...medication does help but it's only temporary...but foundations do exist that are exploring the possibility of a cure in the future

[@Rattus-Norvegicus]

@Captain Hindsight prostitution is the oldest profession, unfortunately other people have deemed it immoral and so some people just murder themselves in frustration.

[@waterunderthebridge7950]

Fish aren’t stupid at all, sometimes they’re just koi Also petition to rename non-schooling fish to home-schooling fish

[@SciShowPsych]

Independent Study Fish?

[@galaxi6585]

introvert fish

[@confushisushi]

Truant fish

[@MikhaelAhava]

Hmm…

[@Rattus-Norvegicus]

This joke was practiced in front of a live ostrich...

[@abbieq11]

“Intelligence is subjective” are you calling me dumb?

[@dave5194]

Nah, just relatively dumb

[@josiahklein70]

I think you just did.

[@ActionAlligator]

Honestly, that was a really, really dumb comment in the video...it's like saying quantum mechanics or w/e is subjective because we don't have a full grasp of it. We obviously have pretty damn reliable ways of measuring intelligence and it will only get better with time; finding out fish are a lot smarter than we thought doesn't mean "intellimigence is subdective hurdur"

[@AronSilverwind]

@@ActionAlligator Dude, it's just referring to how we consider what is intelligent. Birds can build complex structures and that's pretty smart. Same with ants and how they prioritize which brood to bring to safety. Dragonflies can do an intercept course. also, we hear a lot about dumb people and smart people and there are dogs with more sense than people.

[@ActionAlligator]

@@AronSilverwind She said intelligence is subjective; it's not, it's objective. I don't know what point you're trying to make by bringing up ants and what not, but ok...they're also objectively unintelligent. (EDIT: I meant objectively less intelligent)

[@ursaltydog]

My lionhead fish would not come to anyone else.. they would hide.. but for me.. they came up to me and rolled over to have their bellies petted..

[@scottmantooth8785]

the fish whisperer

[@TerrariaGolem]

😎

[@farhanahmed2508]

Eat them. Quick!

[@TheChickenRiceBowl]

That's really cute.

[@ursaltydog]

@@TheChickenRiceBowl I adored the little boogers...

[@jtc3730]

I read the title as as "Fish are way smarter than you" and I was like, yeah I kind of agree

[@Mailman2-1Actual]

A fish can probably navigate better than me. I have a horrible sense of direction

[@92RKID]

Agreed.

[@MrPenetroso]

Same

[@limiv5272]

I'm extremely directionally challenged

[@injunsun]

And they have to navigate up and down as well.

[@Trebare]

You all spend too much time on your phone/laptop/tv. You cut those out completely and your sense of direction will improve

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

5:35 I never liked the mirror test because most animals aren't as visual as humans. Imagine a scent based test. Could a human identify itself by scent? Probably, but it's a weird thought, right?

[@Dragrath1]

The most telling potential issue I've heard of with the mirror test is that people can lose the ability to pass it after brain damage without affecting much else (besides coming up with delusions to rationalize the situation) which suggests its a specialized neural pathway and thus far closer to pure instinct in humans not connected to any "abstract thinking".... If true that is pretty ironic and would kinda invalidate the whole concept of the mirror test.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

@@Dragrath1 that's really interesting! That makes me think of things like 'alien hand syndrome' or experiments where people are trained/tricked to recognizing a mirrored limb as their actual limb. :)

[@robhingston]

Or as vain

[@joshuaewalker]

Thank you for this video! People in the fish keeping hobby have known this forever. I currently have goldfish, guppies, danios, and minnows and they're all very smart in their own ways but my big 'ol goldfish, plural, demonstrate great intelligence all the time. They really are the fish equivalent of puppy dogs. They even love being handled and pet.

[@Cinderpelt1002]

Now I know that my paradise fish not saying "Food, give." He's saying, "Feed me now hooman."

[@tommeng6522]

Gib gib gib gib

[@tanishqsuryawanshi1276]

You are late today so better hurry and feed me

[@KingOfTheBeyond23]

My goldfish gets excited when you move your fingers on a corner cause we used to do it before feeding him. Pavlovian training worked.

[@soogymoogi]

That time/place learning is the real deal. I had a dojo loach who'd be waiting for me at the corner of the tank closest to me seat when I got home from school. My mom's betta also flared at me when I got my hair cut. Like, who dis

[@TheElusiveReality]

fish working with other species of fish and creates to hunt together?? thats wild

[@crackawood]

my girlfriend's really smart and she smells like fish

[@i.i.iiii.i.i]

@@TRC2002 Symbiotic relationships don't require any social interaction. Different species inviting each other to hunt together IS impressive :p

[@ZombieBarioth]

sandidge02 A symbiotic relationship is two species tolerating and benefiting from the other's existence, not quite the same thing. The fish's behavior is actually cooperative, between entirely different species. That's pretty unusual, and puts it into cat nurturing ducklings territory.

[@CoughE]

Fish are definitely smarter than me, that's for sure

[@thinkabout288]

naaaaaaaaaaaa

[@quirenciatala437]

You must be really dumb to think that. Oh wait you just said you are.😂

[@theworldoverheavan560]

@@quirenciatala437 lol

[@incognitomode2574]

Octopus are so smart it seems crazy that we harvest them for food.

[@injunsun]

I say the same about all animals, but bivalves and worms. Since I don't need to eat them, and value their lives over my own desire to eat them and their secretions or eggs, I'm #Vegan4Life.

[@chistinelane]

It IS crazy

[@killtyrant]

And yet people fail to remember to use their turning signal. Can I replace some drivers with goldfish??

[@leeseoul5735]

According to scishow the fish will remember about 91% of the time which is a heck of a lot more often than people where I live.

[@qu0zzi_353]

U should

[@fireblade274]

20 min ago driving home from work, this dude/girl chose NOT to use the merge lane and just came to a stop and wait for traffic to pass. I WAS PO'd.

[@MrSlizz-wz5nb]

If you don't signal i stick my middle finger up at you🖕

[@LukeRen-rl4yv]

no

[@lampekartoffel]

Yes! Thank you! I've always questioned how we as humans can say how intelligent other animals are based on our own brain! The whole "a goldfish forgets in X amount of seconds" or "a cow only thinks one thought a week" just never sounded right to me... I mean... We can barely distinguish the exact lvl of intelligence of our fellow humans with our tests designed for humans, so how can we judge other species so harshly?

[@mymorenoblepursuits9173]

I dont know if anyone cares, but I taught my guppies what food comes from which container. What's really interesting is that pretty much 96% of my guppies prefer blood worms and 4% prefer regular flakes. I'm really excited about the results.

[@divydumdrophello]

Wowww this is really cool

[@divydumdrophello]

I’m gonna do it with my beta who can recognize and gets excited when I bring out his food containers

[@JimCorrigan777]

I asked for a Cleaner Wrasse for Christmas one year. Santa brought me a bidet instead...

[@jamesscott2730]

Lol!

[@Kamel419]

next level dad joke right here

[@Porkey_Minch]

A+ joke

[@kevinwalden4288]

Great video. Fish are a seriously underrated species when it comes to intelligence

[@defuncttobedeleted3675]

I think this format of two presenters is fantastic! Not only is it a great way to introduce SciShow viewers to SciShow Psych, but for me at least it helped me stay engaged longer and understand the concept more. It may require more resources to create videos such as this - but it was definitely worthwhile having this cooperation

[@acousticpsychosis]

Seems kind of logical that fish would have these abilities considering how long ago they started to evolve.

[@TheJohn8765]

That was really interesting. Thanks so much! I've heard a few podcasts about Wrasses and it makes sense how evo pressures in a crowded reef ecosystem could lead to a need for enhanced social IQ, but the communicative and co-beneficial behaviour of groupers and moray eels is pretty amazing to me. Again, thanks a bunch.

[@davidchodds]

I absolutely love the two narrator format. Please do this all the time.

[@t8ertot767]

Sounds like something a fish would say

[@limalicious]

I've questioned that belief for a long time because I've seen plenty of fish who can learn tricks and recognize people.

[@maherkamer5726]

I have trained my endlers to go through a hoop in the water they only do it if it show them a bloodworm above the water.

[@sr-7none196]

I once had a red tailed shark that would hang out in a tunnel with some upside down catfish over time I discovered my red tailed shark liked and would prefer to swim upside down just like the catfish it would tolerate so fish can definitely learn from each other.

[@siaskies1704]

My betta is very smart and most people don't initially believe that because they think fish are unintelligent. But she knows when bedtime is (there's a specific place in the tank she likes to "sleep"), recognizes me, follows my finger, and can jump for food. Fish really are amazing, and I enjoyed this video.

[@sarahwright7076]

Bettas are very clever.

[@augustinesim1672]

*_Dory has left the chat_* Ps: Joke. I love Dory, she's the cutest animated fish ever and she was quite smart

[@Babs11549]

Ooh! Double hosts! Love this!

[@ursaltydog]

"Navigation doesn't necessarily mean intelligence".... Tell my cousin that who can't find her way home on her own daily....

[@MrGustaphe]

You can't disprove the lack of an implication by an example. A does not imply B? My cousin not B and not A Therefore A implies B!

[@ursaltydog]

@@MrGustaphe Never heard of sarcasm or humor eh? just.. nm..

[@johnopalko5223]

I'm glad to see there are studies being done on piscine intelligence. As a life-long aquarist, I've always known they were pretty clever but, the plural of "anecdote" not being "data," I certainly couldn't prove it.

[@mdkooter]

I believe the reason fish can distinguish between themselves and others in a mirror is because the water surface (when not too choppy) presents a perfect reflection at several angles. This means they are used to see themselves in a mirror - while land-based species are not (vaguely, in the reflection in a flat body of water maybe).

[@timsullivan4566]

Groupers and morays - hunting buddies! How cool is that?

[@abbieq11]

That sounds like what my fish was telling me this morning. They are almost as smart as me..

[@adelaestrella3338]

Man splatoon's world is getting realer by the second,guess we better start stalking up on super soakers and t-shirts

[@mistybeats1368]

I was waiting for them to say “a 2012 study taught basic physics to a rainbow fish and by the next day it had created the most accurate interpretation of string theory”.

[@FelipeKana1]

I believe this idea about fish being dumb really started when fishermen who fish and threw the fish back in the water (like in recreational fish-and-pay places) wanted someone way to justify the torture theywere doing. Heard that a lot when young. Other species went through similar scenarios

[@huldu]

I had one of those elephant fish once. It was always terrorizing the ancistrus sp, which has a very tough outer body. Some of you may know that the elephant fish is quite special as it has tiny electrical charges to find food etc, kind of like an electric eel. It had no effect at all on top of the ancistrus however it learned quickly that by just leaning on the side and guiding the front "trunk" like thing underneath it would agitate the ancistrus. Yes, the elephant fish that I had was quite the bully in the aquarium.

[@herranton]

My clowns would beg for food when I was close to the tank, but hide when other people came in the room. I never thought they were dumb. They constantly impressed me. One time, they went on an adventure to a dentists office. Oh, wait. I might be thinking of something else.

[@amycarter6337]

is your fish nemo lol

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

Each species has it's traits but they learn very quickly and they learn from each other. I've seen fish in my tropical community tank learning behaviour from other fish, especially around feeding. The common goldfish in my pond will follow my hand around underwater because one time I fed them from my hand.

[@KnightSlasher]

All fish grow up watching Rick and Morty

[@Mii.2.0]

Especially you, SpongeBob! ;)

[@nicholasperez2278]

Dont be the next Justin Y.

[@Mii.2.0]

^Don't listen to him.

[@xanderellem3646]

You know, I'm something of a scientist myself.

[@shleed]

Hello fellow lifeform. I would like to compliment your profile picture. *compliment noises*

[@dalechenoweth915]

My pet Murray Cod would stack larger rocks on the bottom of its tank to make structures to camouflage against. It also recognised people and was distrustful when fed by strangers.

[@draxiss1577]

Also, some Koi are straight-up *playful* with their caretakers! Like, they'll swim up to their human to be picked up so they can jump back in the water. Carp have levels of intelligence that even untrained humans can recognize.

[@monkilla165]

This makes me feel bad for throwing a bluegill like a Frisbee back into its pond

[@chefRyan38]

I think I've heard David Attenborough tell me all of these things before.

[@emilyd8884]

I've always loved my goldfish and I've always thought they were smarter than people let on, this just proves it. Thanks scishow!

[@uddhavn]

Fish : I am intelligent Person : but can you play chess Fish: humans really underrate smartness.

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

Humans have hard time defining "smartness" because we have so many built-in functions that are hard to implement but seem easy, only that they evolved for millions of years. And things that we can learn doing, but they require a lot of time and effort seem more difficult to us, as we have to do it ourselves. It took us much quicker to make a computer that beats people in chess most of the times (not to mention doing almost all sorts of crazy math) than to make one that walks on two or four legs on uneven ground or recognizes objects seen with a camera.

[@Kousha]

That episode was great! Deep, complete and dynamic. Congrats!

[@wcdeich4]

The MythBust4ers also busted the 3 second fish memory claim. Although my mollies failed the mirror test.

[@Christopher-N]

Fish are smart, they're just specialized for their particular environment. For instance, Eunice aphroditois-also known as the Bobbit worm-waits in ambush for its prey, but there's a fish that locates and blows jets of water over the aphroditois, ruining its ambush.

[@perspectivism2006]

Thank you for for making fish feel better about themselves.

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

I have a mix of tropical fish in my tank and they know when feeding time is and where I usually drop the food. They also seem to be able to distinguish me from other people.

[@silverboiiii4205]

fish having 'haunting buddies' is such a cool concept also it was really intresting, i really enjoy your videos!

[@evanacey1414]

I never thought that today’s episode of Sci Show would have me second guessing my decision to eat fish...

[@Lilliaace]

Thank you so much for this video. Fish are so important to our ecosystem and I'm hoping this video helps give them the respect they deserve as a species

[@mastershooter64]

0:52 you can see that the brain on the left is the brain of a person who plays counter strike and its a normal human brain and the brain on the right is a person who plays call of duty (COD) who has a smaller brain and is less smart

[@leahdelaney987]

Hey, you should deticate a video on psoriasis there's very few on here that give a good description of it and I suffer from it so it would be helpful

[@ericyager8858]

Great video... Also, you totally said cleaner-ass at 6:06 and nobody can tell me otherwise haha.

[@abbieq11]

This should be called ‘Giving Fish Mirrors’

[@Travybear1989]

My wife and I rescued three goldfish for our son (and us lol) from the local bait shop to raise as pets and got them a 20-gallon tank full of colorful rocks, a few fish homes, things to swim through, and plastic sea plants and they are so vibrant and happy that it's a major mood booster waking up in the morning to feed them just so we can watch them hunt down the flakes. They truly are a lot more interesting than people give them credit for. I mean, you can literally see all three of them lined up in a row whenever I grab their food bottle and one of the fish (named Curly after the three stooges) loves to relax in his pineapple house while Moe tends to prefer the sunken fort and Larry, who is the largest prefers to sleep "outside".

[@frotwithdanger]

Could you two co-host again and then have whoever isn't talking mime the words of the other?

[@peacfulseas]

Transferred 2 Frying pan size , 3- 4" to 5" Koi from a 40gal to a 80gal tank. For days they would swim from left to right but at the right end of the larger tank they would only go as far as the length of the 40 gal tank. They would stack up in layers all as if they were pressed up against a glass wall. Measuring against the old tank it was an exact matching distance. I can't recall the number of days this behavior lasted but it was very noticeable. I even tried putting their food on the " Forbidden Zone " . They waited for it to float to the " Neutral Zone ".

[@thomasslone1964]

i got a veil tail beta on my desk, it often stares at me and does weird stuff like biting and pulling the fake plants, chasing gnats walking on the tank walls, ect

[@DANGJOS]

Fish can definitely remember the location of food. At my sister's old place, there's a small stream in the back, and fish would always swim up to me when I walked over. Either because I fed them in the past, or perhaps others feed them.

[@uhohhotdog]

My aquarium pump is on a timer. It shuts off when it’s feeding time so as to not get food sucked into the sump and wasted. When the pump shuts off the fish start swimming near the top looking for food because they know it’s feeding time.

[@johnwick-ii6il]

As a child I sat on the dock staring into the shallow water. I noticed several fish clearing out circular nests on the lake bottom. They had removed every piece of debris, no matter how small. Then they would wash the sand in their mouths until only a clean circle remained. After the nest was done, the fish would begin a hypnotic swirling dance over the top of it. Flashing their bright colors in the noon sun, and showing off their best moves to attract a mate Out of curiosity, I threw a berry into one of the nests. The fish quickly removed it, inspected his nest, then continued his dance. Each time I threw in another berry, the fish would take it farther away, and then swim in aggressive moves thru the community. Then the time came where the fish took the berry to his neighbors nest, dropped it in, and then began to attack his neighbor. After he returned from his attack, he would dance no more. Just swim in angry guard over his nest. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for further study. So I threw a bunch of berries into his nest. Well, as you can imagine... It was on ! The area erupted into chaos as the fish attacked all his neighbors, then began to bulldoze their nests with his face. Soon the debris in the water began to block all sight of the mayhem, so I continued on my way. Dr. Evil out.

[@Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access]

I don't really think fish are all that smart. I mean like come on, they don't even know how to breath air.

[@carschmn]

Studying fish sounds like so much fun. I love fish.

[@Fawriel]

The moment I realized fish were smarter than I thought was when I saw a video of a fish repeatedly kicking sand into another fish's den just to piss it off. When an animal is capable of just doing things for shits and giggles, that's automatic proof of some higher brain function right there. And if it could even be considered a sort of prank, that's even more impressive!

[@dropmelon]

Don't know if all fish is like this but there're fishes that are also capable of being upset, traumatized, annoyed and be in disbelief.

[@petervandermeij]

I really like the dual-presenter format. you should do this more often!

[@ayemjake]

I came across a video on a Puffer Fish that easily picked up that if he copies the guy and spit water above the pool... he'll be rewarded... The man just showed the puffer how to do it by him blowing water outside his mouth, and this happened in a very short span of maybe just a few minutes. The video's title is *How to train your Puffer* by Gallery Aquatica TV

[@pigcatapult]

Take that, everyone who made fun of me in high school for thinking my fish capable of thoughts and feelings.

[@masterimbecile]

More crossover episodes please!

[@marleycameron531]

When I was a kid I would go swimming in my local lake and would dive down to dig up freshwater muscles from the bottom. Then I would open them up and feed them to the sunnies and perch who lived there. Eventually, they learned to follow me around, and even after the cold winter, they would remember me the next summer. There was even this one large bluegill who looked pretty old, but as far as fish go he looked very wise. His was covered in scars and was missing some of his upper lip, meaning he likely had some bad experiences with humans. Despite that, he showed rather little fear unlike the others and after a while, he became the most social fish there. After a full two years, he immediately said hello as soon as he saw me again. I hope he's still doing ok.

[@EsKaioS]

Nice editing! Personally preferred this over the usual text slides

[@aseriouslollygagger5734]

My baby guppies realize within a few days of birth that the light turning on means food and within a week realize I am the one giving it to them. The adults are pretty social and dance at the glass to get our attention. They definitely recognize each other and have a social structure, even after being removed for medical treatment and returned after quarantine. They are interesting to watch, definitely smarter than people give them credit for.

[@marthelsudaria4670]

My XRay Tetras in the tank would hide behind plant in the aquarium but when I approach the tank they would rise up to the surface "telling" me they are hungry. I tried my brother to this too but the fish seem to not care about him even if it's early morning and they are hungry.

[@kthfox]

Really enjoy the co-hosted videos!

[@snowkracker]

I’m impressed by the testing methods. Taking the colored bowl thing is awesome. It makes me want to learn about other testing methods used by scientists.

[@megalopolis2015]

This blew my theory of fish intellect out of the water.

[@divydumdrophello]

I trained my beta to eat from a stick or my fingers, nibble/ hop out of the water at my finger, swim through a hoop without food, and follow my finger all in the first two weeks of getting him. He also greets all of my family members by swimming to the front of the tank and staring straight at us, probably because he thinks we will feed him. Regardless of his reasonings for doing these things, we all consider him one of the most intelligent and interactive, out of all of the fish we have had/seen. I think all beta fish and animals have amazing intelligence if we get to know their needs and how they think.

[@vitorcordeirom]

I loved these couple of videos hosted by 2 people

[@DylanFergusC]

two hosts is almost too much greatness for me to handle!

[@olemackrel]

I was in the aquarium service business for 30 years and I can tell you a lot of stories of how intelligent Fish are.

[@alceratops6853]

Other DC heroes: "LMFAO, you talk to freaking FISH?!?!" Aquaman: "You underestimate their genius! That's why a group of fish is called a school!"

[@NotHPotter]

I'm a little freaked out by seeing more than one host on SciShow. I like it.

[@SilverDawnArrow]

I knew goldfish don't have three second memory already, but I had no idea fish could be so cleaver!

[@hydrochloricacid2146]

I know right. They're quite sharp.

[@zennyfieldster4220]

Awe man. I was thinking my fish could help me with my homework for a sec.

[@PMA65537]

As one fish said to another: "Here's that sick squid I owe you."

[@mcchuggernaut9378]

I'm not convinced these tests between species necessarily indicate higher intelligence in fish. Swapping colored bowls and turning on lights to indicate food cues probably works better with fish because they are so focused on food. A dog can always beat me at a smell test, and a parrot can mimic voices better than I, but they aren't smarter. They are simply well evolved to do what they need to do to survive. For example, in the wild, fish need to know where food is more likely to be found depending on the time of day, so they are hyper-attuned to that aspect of their environment. Any angler can tell you that. The coy in the pool are just using that same instinct in an artificial setting. They aren't displaying intelligence in the classical human sense. In fact, most animals can be taught to expect food at certain times of the day, even invertebrates. A clam can do that. A lot of this is just biologically automatic and doesn't require much "thought". As well as the claim that fish can "count"...they are schooling animals. Since schooling is something they are bread to do, they can probably automatically look at a blob of dots and tell which is larger, but they aren't thinking "6 is more than 2!". I would argue this is another instinctual ability being mistaken for intellect. Yes, they aren't stupid, but I also don't think they are as "intelligent" as some of these findings are eagerly used to tout them as being.

[@LonelyBlackWolf96]

I have a betta who had a red water bottle cap floating in his tank. He used to chase it around and push it . One time, I had to travel for a week or so, and left him in the care of my friend. I took water bottle caps and put rations of frozen bloodworms in them, so I would be sure that my friend doesn't over/under feed him. When feeding time came, she would let the cap float in the tank, so the food defrostes and then she simply dumped the contents in. He quickly learned that a floating cap means mealtime and soon enough started hanging out around the floating cap containing the food, as to be around when food came. She said that he was less responsive when she fed from a red cap (not the one that was already in his tank), almost ignoring it until he would see worms in the water. Does that mean that he distinguishes colors, since he had a red cap as a toy in his tank, so a new red one was thought of as a toy too? He also learned that my finger in his tank means food. I taught him that since he's in a 55 gallon alone, and it was hard for me to attract his attention to one spot and make him come to the surface. Another thing, if I do a thorough cleaning of his tank, including vacuming the gravel, he will immediately check every crook and piece in his tank. He would swim close to bottom, slightly tilted down, stop and examine every piece of gravel, turning his head around and looking at it from different angles. If that's not curiosity, then I don't know what is. If any fish owners read through all of this, share your stories.

[@genroynoisis6980]

SEa BEd "Did you think I was the stinging jellyfish? No, I am the turtle who *snaps!* " Gull Schrader: "Do you want me to report him to the SEA?" *silence* "Wait... do you want me to _hunt_ Oyster White?" *pincers press together rapidly* This is what I thought when I saw the title.

[@SavantanimalServant]

I always knew fish have memory and thought. They recognize their caretaker over others and also they know the difference between a friend or foe. I use to have a koi pond filled with gold fish that out grew their tank, when my cats would walk up to drink from it the fish would stay up close to the surface of the water doing their fish thing opening and closing mouth bit.. whenever the birds would swoop down to the pond all the fish would dart under the rocks and stay at the bottom until the birds would fly away.

[@graphite2786]

The 3 second memory thing was made up to sell fish bowls. Originally in Victorian times fish were kept in rectangular tanks, these were expensive and prone to leaks. They were also ugly as most of them had only the front made from glass, the sides being slate, ceramic or even iron sheet. As pet shops rose in prominence, certain traveling salesman touted blown glass bowls as a means to keep pet fish: they wouldn't leak on the furniture, you could see your pet from all sides, they were elegant and tasteful. Large glass blown bowls could be made quickly and as a result were much more inexpensive than the cumbersome early tanks. However, they were small, (for fish) around 2 to 3 gallons. Most were far smaller. To combat this , glass salesmen came up with the anecdote that goldfish had a three second memory; that by the time they had swam the perimeter of the bowl they had forgotten where they had been, so each circuit was a new adventure. This sales pitch evolved into "fact", even being quoted in early fish keeping manuals and encyclopaedias.