Fish
Photo Source: USGS

When we think of fish, most of us think of dumb creatures that swim in the sea and don't have the foggiest notion of what is going on around them, or what they are doing. If we ever thought of them as being intelligent, most of us might not be able to think of them as food again. Guess what? Most fish are far more intelligent than most of us give them credit for. This falls right in line with what we are finding out about many other creatures, that are turning out to be far more intelligent that we suspected. Even the myth that only humans use tools has been busted. We found out that Ravens actually fashion tools to fit the job that they are going to do. They will use bits of wire or branches to fashion hooks to snag things or use sticks to push things. Chimps were found to use tools as were other animals. Bees can communicate with each other and now we have found that fish talk to each other. Yipes, the world is being turned upside down.

Fish make squeaking and squealing sounds to each other using a very low frequency that humans can't naturally hear. Have you noticed the way a cat will rub against you? I am sure that you have, but did you know that fish like to do this too and often rub against each other. We know that ants actually grow mushrooms for food consumption and tend their mushroom farms, but did you know that some fish actually have gardens and they take care of them. The gardens are for the growing of algae. They prune out the things that they don't want growing in their gardens and encourage the growth of the type of algae that they like. This certainly doesn't sound like the actions of a creature that doesn't know what is going on around it, does it? Some fish seem to know that they are in danger of being eaten by bigger fish, so they collect rocks and build themselves a fort that they can sleep in without becoming dinner. Now are you ready for this piece of information? Some fish use tools. There we go again, shattering that theory that only humans can use tools. A recent paper from the University of Edinburgh stated that fish are more intelligent than some of the higher primates. They have long term memory and a rather sophisticated social structure. Who would have ever guessed this?

Maybe it is the facial features of fish that make them look so dumb? It is kind of a shame that their intelligence is so well hidden. You can ask any diver that frequently goes down into the water what he thinks of groupers. Groupers are actually fish that belong to a number of different genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. What, that was quite a mouthful. Most are very friendly and when a diver is in the water they may come around, because they are curious and like attention. Many divers have reported groupers hanging around them and actually getting petted like a dog and enjoying it. Even these fish are actually smarter than they are given credit for. New research has shown that they sometimes team up with the giant moray eel when hunting for food. This makes a strange couple indeed. Why would two different species of fish team up together, unless they knew that this would increase their odds of getting a meal? If they knew this, then that means it was an intelligent decision that was made and it shows that the animals certainly are not stupid.

An experiment was reported that took place with a Red Parrot fish. It seems that the eyes of this type of fish are similar to the human eye. In order to see if the fish could "learn", food was dropped into the tank next to the finger of the experimenter. After a few weeks, the fish associated the finger with food and would come up. Next a red cap replaced the finger and after several weeks, the fish associated the red cap with food. The fish definitely learned associations. Next a test took place to see if the fish could learn that food would be associated with a red disk, but not a brown one. The fish was right 90% of the time. This test seemed to be incorrectly conducted to me, because the fish was already using a red disk to get his food from. The test should have been conducted with two different colored disks. Different shapes were used to represent food. A circle vs. a star. The fish was correct 76% of the time. When the test came to see if the fish could count, he failed miserably. Oh well, maybe given more time he could have learned that 3 circles and 1 circle had different associations.

Recent tests show that fish recognize their individual "shoal mates" and were aware of social standings and relationships. Some fish have actually been caught in the act of using tools to build nests. Their long term memory is quite impressive. Fish intelligence is so impressive, that it might turn out that they are far more intelligent than monkeys. Do all scientists agree with this assessment? Not at all, some actually think that this is nonsense and there is absolutely no evidence to indicate that fish are this intelligent. As for the evidence that has been presented so far, it is ignored. Is this anything new with scientists? No, there are always scientists that will fight to keep the status quo. When most people thought that the Earth was flat there were those scientists that completely disregarded the evidence that it was round. When the airplane was being invented, there were those scientists that scoffed and said that a heavier than air machine could never get off the ground. When Galileo said that the Earth was not the center of the solar system there were those scientists that laughed at him, this is nothing new.

One experimenter found that the blind Mexican Cave Fish had some extraordinary talents. When you put it into a fish tank it would make a mental picture of its surroundings which took a couple of hours to complete. After that it would not bump into any obstacles in the tank. It could spot a change and then adjust to it. This is a type of test that defeats hamsters. So it seems that this fish is more intelligent than at least a hamster. Another test took place with a different experimenter and different fish. An Australian Crimson Spotted Rainbow fish learned to escape from a net in its tank. Eleven months later the net was set up exactly the same way and the fish remembered how it escaped and did it exactly the same way. In fish years this was 40 years later.

Octopus
Photo Source: NASA

Here is the problem, as with anything else, there are always those people that take things too far. I actually read an article that claimed that fish were as intelligent as humans and that when we found this out, people would stop eating fish. If I was a fish, I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. While fish are far more intelligent than we first thought, they are not on a par with us. If we are speaking about octopus brains, than things become a little more blurry. Their brains are very similar to any vertebrate. It is hard to judge their intelligence because they are not social animals. The brain itself is not as complex as most mammals, but the octopus has a huge brain to weight ratio. One study had the following conclusion, "The rapid acquisition and the stability indicate that observational learning in Octopus vulgaris is a powerful mechanism of learning". Much more study has to be done in this area.

So there you have it, our finned friends are more intelligent than anyone suspected and may be smarter than many of our pets. Who would have thunk?