Fish 1 Second Memory ?

Is it true that fish have a 1 second memory ?
Or is it just another one of those "Old Wive Tales" ?

I just asked out of curiousity

 

Fish learn feeding routines so I'd put that old wife's tale right out.

 

agreed, my cichlids know EXACTLY when its feeding time. and they make it known when its 10minutes past their regular scheduled feeding by aggressively splashing the water out of my tank. no joke. they start slamming their heads into the acrylic top i have on the tank (yes its vented for gas exchange). i had to put it on there because they were jumping out of the tank if i came home an hour late from work....

 

Wow, that's worse than a dog dropping his empty bowl right in front of you

 

my fish come out when Im around the tank, but hide when I have another friend over who tries to look at the tank.. Also, if the canopy is opened they all flock to the surface.. Fish have a decent memory if you ask me..

 

i know this is against the grain... but I feel folks see what they want to see.

my fish go nuts at feeding time... sure. and every other time i pass by the tank.

There are lots of folks here who will attest to their fish knowing when feeding time is and that they will behave differently. Frankly, I don't believe them - I think they're seeing what they want to see and that those same fish will behave just like that most any other time they walk up to the tank.

But it's more exciting as a fish owner to think they're really responding to "me", so folks allow themselves to believe same.

I really don't think the fish is remembering "hey, it's Peredhil, time to eat!". I'm sure there are some specific fishy exceptions of intelligent(ish) fish... but I think my clowns are morons. and every other fish I have ever had.


I don't know how long their memory is, but I seriously doubt they have any real long term memory beyond the instincts they were born with.


And if someone really wants to argue it, I'll cede it. And just say training something through repetition to get used to a routine is not "memory". Kind of like the dogs and the bell and the salivating mouth...


ok, flame on

 

im in agreement. with the case of my cichlids it took ~6months before they started this routine of getting very violent and flying out of the top of the tank when they've not gotten their feeding. routine/habit are different than actual memory. so i guess i change my statement that they have fallen into routine more so than "remembered" that its time for food.

 

There's been scientific studies regarding goldfish and their abilities to swim-navigate mazes and other obstacles and, after learning, being able to consistently navigate them.

I can dig up some sources on this if you like since I think it's interesting.


However, i believe that different fish have different memory and intelligence levels, similar to dogs. Which is why you don't see beagles in squad cars.

 

Yes, there's Dr Kevin Warburton in Australia that has been studying fish memory for over 15 years at Charles Sturt University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society

Fish can remember predators for months after being only attacked once and other such "feats"

 

There was that mythbusters episode where they taught goldfish how to run an acrylic maze in a week. It was pretty neat.