Do fish have a very short memory?

[jonathanscottlee]

I simply want to know, do fish have a very short memory or not? Is it a myth? I am wondering because I don't know how my tropical fish behave. E.g. do the neon tetras remember each other? Due to fate (and death!), we had 1 silver tip tetra and when we introduced neon tetras, he hung around with the neon tetras. How does he know he doesn't look like any other the other tetras?

Anyhow, that was a slight diversion to my original question. Does anyone know about the memory (or lack of it) of tropical fish?

Cheers,
Jon

 

[AaronPenfound]

Well they must have some kind of a memory because i can handfeed my fish so they must remember who i am! Also when i get in from work and they see me they start swimming back and forth around the tank madly cause they know there gonna get fed that also happens whenever i lift the hood of my tank up!

 

[Supersalmon]

I think they must have a longer memory than is thought. Whenever I introduce new fish the other fish always have a look at the new introductions. If they didnt have a good memory they would then always think of other fish they met as new introductions and they would all be doing nothing but looking at each other.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I think they remember more than we give them credit for. My fish remember...I have a midas who remembers what the container of food looks like, the one he DOESN'T like and the one he does...he also recognizes the net when I'm heading towards his tank with ghost shrimp

Bettas remember, this I'm certain of. My breeders remember the breeding tank, it's almost like they KNOW what's going on when I set it up. I have a female betta who lost her "love" a few months ago, she literally mourned for weeks and weeks, she's just now snapping out of it and showing interest in her new neighbor. Why did it take her so long ....because she remembers Floyd

 

[ryan]

Some fish like goldfish are much more interested in the enviroment inside the tank and as they aren't all that bright anyway the only sign of memory you may see is at feeding time. Other fish for example Cichlids are highly intelligent and pay great attention to the enviroment outside the tank, you will often see Angels and Discus drift from one end of the tank to the other whilst they are watcing the goings on in the room. IMO fish certainly have a memory some fish have a more complex mind than others and some fish do not show you obviously their full capabilities. For example my fancy goldfish (supposed to have a short term memory of 3 seconds) often recognize things I do involving feeding etc when I have only done it once before. I use a china cup to defrost bloodworms and Daphnia and the Angels and goldfish seem to regconize this every time they see it, as for the memory of smaller fish like Neons no one will really know, IMO they aren't as clever as some other fish but are still not dumb, they seem to be more involved in their own world rather than the world as a bigger picture, maybe because they are prey in the wild so they have to concentrate on surviving whilst the larger fish are more likely predators whom have more time to develop their brain as they are not constantly afraid of attack.

 

[akhtar]

this topic has been covered many times before...

anyone that posts has a little story of how theyre fish remember or recognise them,

so i think that all fish must have a longer memory than what scientists say (3.6 second memory, 6 second memory)

fishes brains are small, but that dont mean theyre dumb coz a really tiny protion of our brain can store lots of memory, because memory isnt a object.

so, dont get carried away in a fantasy world of 3 second memory fish

 

[akhtar]

hehe, wuvmybetta posted one minuite before ryan, and i posted one after ryan

 

[Lateral Line]

If fish forgot everything after a few seconds, why when you open the lid of the tank do they all flock to the surface for food instead of darting for cover?

 

[Woody]

I've always been reluctant to attribute feeding-time behavior to anything more than a conditioned response. Hard to say how much true memory is involved. But back in my oscar-keeping days, I had a wonderful tiger oscar who was obviously curious about activities outside his tank and watched me more closely than he watched my wife or kids. (I was the food guy so, again, I was hesitant to read much into it.)

But when my parents visited, that oscar seemed fascinated by my father. Wherever Dad would sit, the oscar would hover at that end of the tank, staring at him. It drove him so crazy, he'd keep moving to a new chair. Dad's been dead for more a decade now, but I still smile when I think about hearing his voice from the living room as he slammed his book shut and got up to move: "Dammit! Your crazy fish is staring at me again!"

 

[staredecisis]

I've always been reluctant to attribute feeding-time behavior to anything more than a conditioned response.

Gotta realize, a learned conditioned response entails memory. People just don't generally define it as such because fish do not think in words, they think in impulses like every other animal besides humans. But if conditioned responses are present that provoke the fish into acting a specific way due to certain stimuli (i.e. food or feeding time, my betta knows what his food looks like as well) that entails that their mind remembers that stimuli and is acting to it. I can gaurantee there is no intrinsic instinct that calls a fish to zoom around the surface of the water upon spotting a yellow cup (food). So it is mental, not genetic.

There are even more things that lead me to believe that fish have a certain level of memory, but I think even feeding time "conditioned responses" prove it on their own. Fish are definitely a LOT smarter than people give credit, especially certain species. I think bettas are definitely smart little creatures.

 

[smileandnod]

I think a very short memory would be a really poor survival trait, and would of lead to either no fish at all, or all fish would be poisonous or something. (IMHO).
Any fish that survives an experience with a predator will have no desire to repeat it, and so shy away from the predator in future.

Also, koi carp can be trained to have Pavlovian responses. Ie, ring a bell and they know it's feeding time.

Ian.

 

[TetraMon]

They say goldfish lose their memory every 3 seconds. Picture your goldfish swimming around his bowl and every 3 seconds saying "hey a castle"..."hey a castle". But what about the really smart goldfish lets say they have a memory span of 5 seconds they're prolly like "hey a castle... i think im going in circles... hey a castle"
Thats all i know

 

[ryan]

Also, koi carp can be trained to have Pavlovian responses. Ie, ring a bell and they know it's feeding time.

Ian.

I have trained my Fancies to do the same thing, whistle and they go mad.

 

[crimsontsavo]

lol.
This subject is silly and fun to think of.

Yeah, fish have longer memories than most people think.
Trust me.....I know all.....
lol.

Really though- as stated previously- conditioning a fishs` memory is still memory.
They have to remember they have been conditioned.

Now that I have only repeated what everyone else has said, I'll leave ya to it.

 

[Woody]

I think a very short memory would be a really poor survival trait, and would of lead to either no fish at all, or all fish would be poisonous or something. (IMHO).
Any fish that survives an experience with a predator will have no desire to repeat it, and so shy away from the predator in future.

Also, koi carp can be trained to have Pavlovian responses. Ie, ring a bell and they know it's feeding time.

Ian.

Interesting point. I've met many fly-fishermen who will swear that trout in a catch-and-release stream will become smarter every year and that it becomes increasingly difficult to entice them with a fly.

But a great deal of behavior seems to be instinctive in many animals. I've watched sheepdogs try to herd groups of running children, even though the dogs have never seen a sheep. Take a mouse that's never seen a raptor and put him in a cage with an eagle, and I'd be willing to bet the mouse goes bananas. Seems that wild fish would react the same way when encountering predators, with instinct possibly playing a greater role than conscious memory.