Fish might have Self-Recognition Abilities

[devind0446]

So I was in my 11th grade English class today (online of course) and we read an article about how some animals have self-awareness. Most of the animals in the article were like humans and chimpanzees and other primates but at the end of the article it talked about the one outlier to this group being a fish called a Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse.

They did a study where they put a bright dot on the fish's underside and when the fish saw itself in a mirror it tried super hard to rub the dot off. This of course means that the fish knew that what it was seeing in the mirror was itself and that the dot wasn't supposed to be there.

I googled this fish and saw that unfortunately, its a saltwater fish, but I still thought that this was interesting enough to share.

[Phill D]

Some species do seem to exhibit, what might be called personality or inquisitiveness. I remember in one of his videos Cory was talking about how bettas tend to display curiosity or inquisitive nature and that's a trait we humans tend to associate with intelligence. Maybe there's something to it and maybe not, interesting either way. Also heard of people getting their fish to perform tricks for food. And of course some will recognize their owner as "the lifegiver!' come to feed. The first few days i had my betta he would flare his gills if i stare at him too long. When i tried to take a picture he would stop. I tried to trick him to use my phone to show him himself, to see if he'd flare his gills at himself. He wouldn't do it. Now also he doesn't flare at me because i guess he's used to me. He's also started on making his bubble nest lol

[Kat_Rigel]

5 hours ago, devind0446 said:

So I was in my 11th grade English class today (online of course) and we read an article about how some animals have self-awareness. Most of the animals in the article were like humans and chimpanzees and other primates but at the end of the article it talked about the one outlier to this group being a fish called a Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse.

They did a study where they put a bright dot on the fish's underside and when the fish saw itself in a mirror it tried super hard to rub the dot off. This of course means that the fish knew that what it was seeing in the mirror was itself and that the dot wasn't supposed to be there.

I googled this fish and saw that unfortunately, its a saltwater fish, but I still thought that this was interesting enough to share.

Very interesting! I had not heard that before. One of the issues with such tests is that we, as humans, tend to rely on eyesight, and we have a bias to make our science experiments rely on it too. For example, a dog won't really recognize itself in the mirror. BUT there was an experiment with scent- multiple wooden markers were each given a different dog's scent. Dogs would pee on the markers of other dogs, but the ones marked with their own scent? They wouldn't pee on it. It is suggested that this is because the dog could recognize its own scent. So, isn't that self recognition too?

I suspect fish might be a similar case. For example, black ghost knife fish utilize electrical currents. How might we design an experiment around that? Overall a very interesting topic.

[McNubbin]

41 minutes ago, Kat_Rigel said:

Very interesting! I had not heard that before. One of the issues with such tests is that we, as humans, tend to rely on eyesight, and we have a bias to make our science experiments rely on it too. For example, a dog won't really recognize itself in the mirror. BUT there was an experiment with scent- multiple wooden markers were each given a different dog's scent. Dogs would pee on the markers of other dogs, but the ones marked with their own scent? They wouldn't pee on it. It is suggested that this is because the dog could recognize its own scent. So, isn't that self recognition too?

I suspect fish might be a similar case. For example, black ghost knife fish utilize electrical currents. How might we design an experiment around that? Overall a very interesting topic.

I also heard of a similar study. In this one the researcher used dog poop. While out on a walk the dog would take extra time sniffing every other dogs poop, but when randomly placed, the dog would skip over their own poo. I agree that it makes sense that the prime sense of an animal is likely what would be used to tell itself from others.

Memory is another marker of intelligence and awareness. Fish definitely have memory especially those like cichlids. Interesting to hear about the wrasse. 

[Ikantspell4]

Pretty sure that fish is more self aware than I. Often my family has to tell me when I've got a coffee stain on my shirt and sometimes I don't make any immediate effort to correct it. 

[KoolFish97]

Also to add an interesting read up. 

Manta rays (a type of fish of course) are shown to have self awareness as they are able to recognise their own reflection. 

Many criticisms of the way we determine animal intelligence and self-awareness is very humano-centric or another better way to put it is Mammal-centric as we often determine mammal traits and behaviours to be a response of their intelligence etc. That doesn't mean it's not true that it doesnt reflect it but that doesn't discredit that their is alternative ways in which intelligence and self-awareness could be used or interpreted.

[yannachka]

i really believe that people don’t give fish the credit they deserve in terms of intelligence. they seem to be grouped with insects on “they act on pure instinct” rather than them having actual intelligence. i taught one of my previous bettas how to go through a small agility course, i think that alone shows that they have more brains then they’re given credit for. one of my goldfish will do barrel rolls if you mimic the movement with your hand and give it a treat.