Johnson: Fish can learn recognition

In some respects they function more as decorations than as pets. After all, you don’t really “pet” or cuddle with fish, take them for walks or play with them the way you can other critters.

Add to that the fact they live in a self-contained little universe in the corner of the room, they kind of get relegated to something pretty close to potted

In search of ponies

plant status — albeit moving around inside said universe.

There is little doubt that fish can be amazing creatures to keep as pets because, among other reasons, they’re quiet, don’t need to be walked, don’t destroy things, don’t aggravate allergies and they are beautiful and relaxing to watch as they swim about their tanks.

While their people may genuinely appreciate them and their presence is enjoyed, however, in general, fish don’t tend to be held in high esteem when it comes to gauging the intelligence of a pet or its integration into the family. Simply put, they just don’t hold a relatable place in the minds of people and they don’t get credit for being personable or intelligent like other critters do.

In many ways it is understandable — what with their tiny little brains, repetitious sucky-face expressions, tendency to swim around in circles (sometimes even backwards) and inclination to vacuum things off the bottom of their tank in a “taste first” approach to exploration — they don’t always come off as being the sharpest creatures on the planet.

The fact that there is little to no interaction other than feeding and cleaning the tank, as compared to cozying up with the cat or playing fetch with the dog, combined with the seeming indifference fish often show to their humans and their simplistic behaviors, it becomes easy to assume fish have no perspective on the world outside their tanks, and probably aren’t capable of it.

Aside from casual observation, within the realm of science, much of the idea that fish lack intelligence, feelings or attachments comes from the fact that their brains are indeed different from other animals.

The neocortex in mammals is the portion of the brain associated with sensory perception, conscious thought, recognition and other things connected to higher reasoning, and fish do not appear to have neocortex-like cells, hence the idea that they can’t think like the rest of the animal world.

As a result, testing fishy-smarts is a growing area of exploration in science and efforts are being made to figure out if they have feelings and just how their brains work.

Despite the fact they swim around seemingly oblivious to their humans, one such study, published this week, suggests your fish may actually recognize you.

With the intent of determining whether fish could learn to recognize human faces, researchers conducted more than a dozen sessions in which they displayed a human face above the tank of archerfish, and then showed the fish two images of human faces. The fish, pre-trained to spit a jet of water at the screen, were rewarded if they selected the first face they had been shown.

The fish, they reported, reached accuracy between 77-89 percent, some getting it right after only one session.

Fish can learn to recognize human faces, they concluded, a finding that helps strengthen the growing belief that even creatures with different brain structure than humans and other animals have the capacity for higher reasoning.

It’s also possible that in their many trips around the castle, fish are thinking a lot more than they’re given credit for — and yes, that they remember all those taps and goofy pressed noses on the glass.

Sharna Johnson is a writer who is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at:

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