Fish self-aware? Interesting study

[4FordFamily]

I must admit, I found this fascinating.

The fact that (or it appears that) fish can identify themselves, and know that's something is on their face that shouldn't be there, is impressive and crazy to me! It changes how I think about fish. We have so much to learn.

If a fish can pass the mark test, what are the implications for consciousness and self-awareness testing in animals?

A marine fish, the cleaner wrasse, appears to perform all the appropriate behavioural responses during the mirror, or mark test. Does this mean that cleaner wrasse are self-conscious? Or that our interpretation of what the mark test means needs to be updated?

journals.plos.org

Special thanks to @Mr. Fishy Fish for bringing this study to my attention!

 

[Jseimo]

Very interesting

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

The following will be a valuable addition to the OP. It will help everyone understand the difference between a mark mirror test and a mirror self-recognition test.

Fish, mirrors, and a gradualist perspective on self-awareness

In response to claims that fish recognize themselves in a mirror, hence are self-aware, this Primer argues that this conclusion is premature due to ambiguity of the observed responses and the methodology used; instead we need a gradualist approach to the evolution of self-awareness in animals

journals.plos.org

Special thanks to @Humblefish for bringing it to my attention.

Edit: Just so everyone knows this article is not claiming the previous article is wrong it is claiming that we need more ways to determine whether animals are self-aware before concluding they are or not based on certain tests.

 

[Stuartmercer]

Ohh im intrigued

 

[4FordFamily]

The following will be a valuable addition to the OP. It will help everyone understand the difference between a mark mirror test and a mirror self-recognition test.

Fish, mirrors, and a gradualist perspective on self-awareness

In response to claims that fish recognize themselves in a mirror, hence are self-aware, this Primer argues that this conclusion is premature due to ambiguity of the observed responses and the methodology used; instead we need a gradualist approach to the evolution of self-awareness in animals

journals.plos.org

Special thanks to @Humblefish for bringing it to my attention.

Edit: Just so everyone knows this article is not claiming the previous article is wrong it is claiming that we need more ways to determine whether animals are self-aware before concluding they are or not based on certain tests.

Thanks, this is very cool! I appreciate the subject matter!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Interesting!

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

I honestly thought more people would jump in on this discussion. It's a very important subject for hobbyists. Regardless of whether we believe the fish are self-aware or not. I believe we should all give them the benefit of doubt based on this research and do our best to provide them with the best lives we can in our aquariums. It's much easier for someone to conclude they're not self-aware and thus provide them with the bare minimum they need to survive. But, it's much harder for someone to conclude their fish are self-aware and thus feel morally obligated to provide them with everything they need to live long/happy lives in their home aquariums. Someone may argue that we ought to leave them in the ocean if this is the case, but with proper care, captive fish can live much longer than wild ones (Paul B's tank is a splendid example of this). So it's a matter of perspective and how much work/money each individual hobbyist will do/spend (respectively) to ensure their animals live as long as possible.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

This was a great read! I would be curious about similar experiments with sharks. Baby lemons or similar perhaps?

 

[leighla wolf]

It’s not surprising that they can recognize themselves because for years we’ve known they hold the ability to recognize humans. There are examples of this in untrained fish (like puffers who shoot water at one person they really like to get their attention or flowerhorns that like to play fetch). Our lfs that we’d frequent weekly had a yellow headed jawfish that would only come out of hiding and go crazy at the glass when it saw my partner. It was very funny and baffled the owner because he literally only did this for my partner who’d smile and stand to talk to him every week.

Study Shows Fish Can Recognize Human Faces

Researchers studying archerfish found the fish can tell a familiar human face from dozens of new faces with surprising accuracy. Subscribe: https://www.youtu...

m.youtube.com

 

[deahttub]

I know my fish recognize me. They only eat out of my hand (much to my daughters chagrin) and my chevron lets me and only me pet her....do they recognize themselves? No clue, but this was a great read...

 

[4FordFamily]

My fish recognize me too. Anyone else can walk by their tank and they carry on as normal. When I am near they follow me everywhere “feed me feed me feed me” because I’m the only one that has ever fed them, lol

 

[jsker]

I read another article like this a couple years ago, this reaffirms the theory's of the other article.

 

[ApoIsland]

If they can recognize themselves why do they always want to kill their reflection when you put a mirror to the tank?