When it comes to animals with incredible memories, fish usually don’t come to mind. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Even poor goldfish have proven science, but accused of having only 10 seconds of memory That lies.
However, a new study was published in Biology Letters We found that certain fish not only have great memories, but can also separate people.
Can fish recognize humans?
While doing research for another study, divers in Mediterranean research centres discovered that local fish follow them and even steal food intended as a reward for something else.
Divers also noticed that these local fish seem to recognize them and know who to follow for their food. As this continues to happen, a team at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) in Germany determined that these fish were the subject of new research.
The team tried to see if these wild fish could actually convey diver differences based on visual cues.
read more: Goldfish may have a memory span longer than just 3 seconds
The greater intelligence of fish
In this study, the researchers fly about 26 feet deep at the Mediterranean Institute. Due to the frequent presence of humans in this area, wild fish have become accustomed to people. Among these open waters, all the fish that participated in the study were “ambitious volunteers who could be willing to go.” press release.
The experiment was divided into two phases. First, the diver wanted to see if the fish would follow the individual. In the first stage, Soller wears a bright red vest and supplies fish to a swimming area of about 160 feet. As the day progresses, she removes her vest and appears only in regular diving gear. She also began feeding the fish that chased her up to 160 feet.
Towards the end of the first phase, the researchers noticed that two species of seabream fish continued to follow the slur.
Research shows that Seabream is a common food fish. However, during this study they demonstrated great intelligence and the ability to bond with humans. Researchers were surprised by their intelligence and gave them some of the fish’s names.
“Once I got into the water, it was only a few seconds to see them swimming towards me.
Twelve days later, Soller had 20 Seabreams following her. And because she can recognize fish based on her physical characteristics, the research team proceeded to phase 2.
Fish are friends
In the second phase, two divers entered the swimming area and joined the joint lead of Soller and Study Maëlan Tomasek. Each had similar diving gear, but the colours of certain patches and fins were different. Divers start from the same location in the swimming area and swim in different directions.
Initially, the fish continued on both divers. “We could see them struggling to decide who they’re going to chase,” Soler said in a press release. However, the fish that followed Tomasek were not given food. So on the second day of phase 2, more fish began to follow Solar.
To confirm their findings, the research team focused on six individual fish from the entire group. They found that four fish were experiencing a positive learning curve during the experiment.
“This is a cool outcome, because it shows that the fish aren’t just chasing Katinka out of habit, or that other fish were there,” Tomasek said in a press release. “They were aware of both divers, tested each one and learned that Katinka produced rewards at the end of the swimming.”
Other studies have shown that household fish can recognize human faces, and with more time, Soller has shown that these wild fish can differ from divers based on their hair and other physical characteristics. I think I can communicate. It’s difficult to recognize faces with goggles, but researchers were already beginning to notice that fish were approaching their faces, just like divers were studying.
read more: Do fish feel pain?
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Before coming to Discover Magazine, Monicacal wrote for several organizations, including bees and the ones focused on nature. Her current work has also been featured on her travel blog and in Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching the PBS show with her mother as a child and spending too much time with Doctor Who.
