Okay, I’m not a scientist, marine biologist or someone who has been doing aquariums for 50 years. But, I do sometimes question what I read. When something doesn’t make sense, I go looking for the WHY it doesn’t. This is one of those times. Hope this doesn’t offend anyone, and makes a few laugh in the process. Here goes:
Can’t count the number of times I have read threads here, and elsewhere, where it is said that if a Tang sees another that looks like it, then it will be aggressive toward that fish. Hum?? Let me think about this. The question that comes to mind would be; how does a Tang, or any other fish for that matter, that lives in the ocean, or aquarium, actually know what they look like themselves? Well…..maybe there are little reef area restrooms where they can go in and look at themselves in the mirror. No, probably not. Don’t think they would remember what their parents looked like. Guess their best friend could describe how they look to others. No no, that can’t be it. They can see their reflection in another fishes eye. No, no? I think the answer is, fish have no idea what they look like themselves. So, saying if it sees another that looks like it, it will be aggressive toward that fish just doesn’t seem to wash.
So, where did this wive’s tale get started? Well, that could take years to figure out. It will be easier to determine why it got started. I believe it got started, because that’s what “we” see. Not what the fish sees.
Yes it’s true, if a tang sees another new fish that “looks” exactly the same, or similar, in most cases it will be aggressive toward that fish. But why. Fish don’t know what they look like themselves, so what is it? The simple answer is smell. We humans are one of the few species on this planet that use sight as our primary sense. Most other species use smell. We use it to some extent. If we smell a skunk, we know one is close and become more vigilant. But we usually rely on sight. Most species use smell to identify themselves and to use smells of others to identify them as friends or foes. Our little fish friends do it well, and have to because the water may not always be pristine clean. All species, including us, release scents known as pheromones. A simple definition is “A pheromone is a chemical that an animal produces which changes the behavior of another animal of the same species”. Fish, along with all other species, use this and other means such as urine, feces and body sweat to identify themselves, others, mark territories, warn off competitors or attract mates.
Fish (especially tangs) are aggressive for three reasons. Territory, food and mating (basic essentials of survival). There are a few that are genetically predisposed to display hyper aggression, but that’s another topic. So the answer is, “when a Tang sees another that looks exactly like it, it will be aggressive toward that fish” should be changed to “when a Tang senses another Tang, usually of the same species (through identification of pheromones), it will become more aggressive toward that fish because it activates the Tang’s basic survival instincts. Interesting note, pheromones are also used to identify siblings. Those fish which are siblings would probably not be aggressive toward each other. Tangs, and other fish can also be aggressive toward unrelated species. That goes back to the basic instincts of territory, food and mating rights. Or, I guess you could say the easy answer is, they just don’t like the way they smell.
Now, I know someone is going to say, well when you put a mirror in front of it, it becomes aggressive and can’t smell the mirror image. Ah, true. But ask yourself why that happens. Imagine. Tang approaches mirror to examine the new fish. Mirror image swims toward Tang. Tang stares at mirror image. Mirror image stares back. Tang makes a jester of dominance by flaring fins. Mirror image does the same. Well, in my world as a fighter pilot, it would be time to say “fights on, fights on” because no one is backing off. Tang and it’s reflection both attack. Now, as time goes by, the Tang stops flaring at the image and the image stops flaring back. No more aggression. Time to remove the mirror. The Tang is not attacking its reflection, it’s attacking another fish that displayed similar aggressive moves. Pretty much identical moves.
So, okay, I’ve stopped running around in tight little circles. Remember, this little episode was only about fish knowing what they look like. All the other instinctual aggression reasons are still in play. Since we all (most all) love our Tangs, I hope this will help a little in understanding their predisposition. They can’t help themselves because basic genetic survival instincts are hard wired in them and they have a hard time over coming it. Guess It would be like a Tiger letting another unrelated Tiger share its domain. Probable won’t happen without a lot of pain, caring and understanding. But, we will keep trying, because that’s who we are.
Jetson
Can’t count the number of times I have read threads here, and elsewhere, where it is said that if a Tang sees another that looks like it, then it will be aggressive toward that fish. Hum?? Let me think about this. The question that comes to mind would be; how does a Tang, or any other fish for that matter, that lives in the ocean, or aquarium, actually know what they look like themselves? Well…..maybe there are little reef area restrooms where they can go in and look at themselves in the mirror. No, probably not. Don’t think they would remember what their parents looked like. Guess their best friend could describe how they look to others. No no, that can’t be it. They can see their reflection in another fishes eye. No, no? I think the answer is, fish have no idea what they look like themselves. So, saying if it sees another that looks like it, it will be aggressive toward that fish just doesn’t seem to wash.
So, where did this wive’s tale get started? Well, that could take years to figure out. It will be easier to determine why it got started. I believe it got started, because that’s what “we” see. Not what the fish sees.
Yes it’s true, if a tang sees another new fish that “looks” exactly the same, or similar, in most cases it will be aggressive toward that fish. But why. Fish don’t know what they look like themselves, so what is it? The simple answer is smell. We humans are one of the few species on this planet that use sight as our primary sense. Most other species use smell. We use it to some extent. If we smell a skunk, we know one is close and become more vigilant. But we usually rely on sight. Most species use smell to identify themselves and to use smells of others to identify them as friends or foes. Our little fish friends do it well, and have to because the water may not always be pristine clean. All species, including us, release scents known as pheromones. A simple definition is “A pheromone is a chemical that an animal produces which changes the behavior of another animal of the same species”. Fish, along with all other species, use this and other means such as urine, feces and body sweat to identify themselves, others, mark territories, warn off competitors or attract mates.
Fish (especially tangs) are aggressive for three reasons. Territory, food and mating (basic essentials of survival). There are a few that are genetically predisposed to display hyper aggression, but that’s another topic. So the answer is, “when a Tang sees another that looks exactly like it, it will be aggressive toward that fish” should be changed to “when a Tang senses another Tang, usually of the same species (through identification of pheromones), it will become more aggressive toward that fish because it activates the Tang’s basic survival instincts. Interesting note, pheromones are also used to identify siblings. Those fish which are siblings would probably not be aggressive toward each other. Tangs, and other fish can also be aggressive toward unrelated species. That goes back to the basic instincts of territory, food and mating rights. Or, I guess you could say the easy answer is, they just don’t like the way they smell.
Now, I know someone is going to say, well when you put a mirror in front of it, it becomes aggressive and can’t smell the mirror image. Ah, true. But ask yourself why that happens. Imagine. Tang approaches mirror to examine the new fish. Mirror image swims toward Tang. Tang stares at mirror image. Mirror image stares back. Tang makes a jester of dominance by flaring fins. Mirror image does the same. Well, in my world as a fighter pilot, it would be time to say “fights on, fights on” because no one is backing off. Tang and it’s reflection both attack. Now, as time goes by, the Tang stops flaring at the image and the image stops flaring back. No more aggression. Time to remove the mirror. The Tang is not attacking its reflection, it’s attacking another fish that displayed similar aggressive moves. Pretty much identical moves.
So, okay, I’ve stopped running around in tight little circles. Remember, this little episode was only about fish knowing what they look like. All the other instinctual aggression reasons are still in play. Since we all (most all) love our Tangs, I hope this will help a little in understanding their predisposition. They can’t help themselves because basic genetic survival instincts are hard wired in them and they have a hard time over coming it. Guess It would be like a Tiger letting another unrelated Tiger share its domain. Probable won’t happen without a lot of pain, caring and understanding. But, we will keep trying, because that’s who we are.
Jetson