Do you think fish remember each other???

[Magnum Man]

I have a couple albino Cory’s, that were among some of the 1st fish I bought, when restarting my tanks, about a year and a half ago… about half way to today, I started doing regional tanks, and my Cory’s got moved the 1st time, since then, they have been moved a half dozen times, and separated… now that I’m doing a South American tank on sand, my remaining 2 of them got back together this morning… they are acting like old buds, maybe it’s just the nature of Cory’s, or maybe they remember each other???

I’m sure there are other stories of fish getting separated, and put back together, after some time has passed… so what do you think, are they capable of remembering each other???

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hard to say if they remember each other or if they're just pleased to find another of their own species. I think most fish are a lot smarter than they're commonly given credit for. A couple weeks ago, I started throwing in a big dose of frozen mysis shrimp and bloodworms as a treat after a water change. Today, the fish started going crazy as soon as I started refilling the tank. Think they don't know what's going on?

Two bottom feeders who get separated for a few months then brought back together? Sure, it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Back in the fold]

What’s that line of Shakespeare’s ? “There are more things in heaven and earth , Horatio , than are dreamt of in your philosophy”. Nothing surprises me in the animal kingdom .

 

[gwand]

What’s that line of Shakespeare’s ? “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your imagination”. Did I get it right ? Nothing surprises me in the animal kingdom .

“…..Dreamt of in your philosophy”

 

[Back in the fold]

“…..Dreamt of in your philosophy”

Thank you , yes , I had to go look that up and then edited my post . I like Shakespeare . He was either way ahead of his time or just knew human nature better than most .

 

[GaryE]

That's a hard one. Research has shown some species are very good at recognizing patterns. Some count (no signs of them doing long division though). They remember feeding spots. Some remember where predators are. Some know where to hunt.

Social fish might know each other. It would make sense. They know who the alpha is, if they have that social structure. But that can break up quickly if a fish dies and they have to sort it all out.

I don't know enough about Corydoras though. Eyesight isn't a big thing with them, and I don't think mud and sand grubbers would have great distance vision. They seem to have a strong sense of smell and of chemical communication. There could be memory there. They do know when a Cory that isn't their species shows up, and they prefer to travel with their own species. It's not a giant leap to figure that if they recognize their species, they could recognize individuals. Could.

But we can't even figure out exactly what our dogs get, let alone our fish. My dog walk this morning included a great discovery. Mabel the dog sniffed something and looked at me with a "wow, this is cool" expression. I just saw wet dirt on a rainy day. It could have been anything to me. We really have trouble figuring out the worlds of other animals. We're really limited.

Plus we used to believe in random ideas like the 3 second memory or fish not even having nervous systems that let them feel pain. A lot of people make fun of researchers who try to figure out the intelligence of "lower" animals, and it isn't an area that gets grant money. I think it matters, because how intelligence evolved is a great question. We're surrounded by creatures with different visual, hearing, smelling, vibration sensing, heat sensing, and we're only starting to work on understanding them.

All I know for certain is they recognize people to a degree. The fish that parade around when I watch them hide every time a new person comes in. It always looks like I have empty aquariums. Visitors leave, and they come out and show off in front of me.

 

[Magnum Man]

I did have some eggs early on, nothing became of them in a Community tank, that had bad water for them, back then… so it’s remotely possible that they may have even been mates??? 2 out of 5 chance… but these 2 seem really friendly to each other… but it just might be that they are both fully mature albino Cory’s… since I added them to this tank, that lone platinum angel, has been following them around more than the Blue Acaras it attached itself to, as only tank mates to begin with… so the angel must recognize that they are the same color as it is…

 

[GaryE]

The angel is probably bored and curious - maybe harassing them.

There is no sweet way to say this - Corys don't pair. They take a more the merrier approach to breeding, with multiple partners all at the same time. Everything in their lives appears to be social, gregarious and fluid. They're the kind of fish where if I have 10, in my mind, that's a Corydoras. They're like a pleasant version of Star Trek's Borg.

 

[Magnum Man]

The angel is only a 2 incher, and probably just came from a holding tank with 20 or 30 of them… so bored yes, probably lonely, cause he kinda follows everyone around like a puppy… not getting in their faces, or trying to “taste” them… doesn’t fit in well with anyone, until I buy it some angel buddies in a couple weeks…

 

[Uberhoust]

I am convinced by watching my angelfish that they can remember individuals of their own species. I have separated various groups of angels and when put back together they go back to their previous relationships, especially pairs that have bonded.

I kind of think in the reverse of a lot of People these days. I start with considering the animals have the same capabilities as we do until I see otherwise. I don't think we are that much different than other Mammals, and we have a lot of similarities to Fish, Reptiles and Amphibians.

 

[GaryE]

I hadn't even thought of pair bonded Cichlids recognizing each other. That is a great point.

I love questions like this, because they make us think, but there are no clean sharp answers. I don't know about shoalers like Corys, because they tend to disappear into the group if we have enough of them. How individuals act doesn't always jump out at us. If we keep them alone, we don't learn much except how a stressed and unhappy fish behaves. Paired Cichlids have to know each other.

It's really hard to define intelligence because it takes so many forms. But the evidence suggests it evolved pretty early, as would make sense. It's helps survival.

 

[Magnum Man]

I'm guessing that recognition, isn't necessarily dependent on sight... could be smells, or other means... I'd be curious if blind cave fish seem to exhibit recognition...

 

[AJ356]

I know cichlid pairs, especially when protecting fry, are supposed to rely on the smell of their partner, especially at night, to help determine who is a threat to the fry or not.

 

[rebe]

All I know for certain is they recognize people to a degree. The fish that parade around when I watch them hide every time a new person comes in. It always looks like I have empty aquariums. Visitors leave, and they come out and show off in front of me.

It's annoying when I want to show off my tanks and fish to family or friends, and my fish all hide!
It's nice that they behave normally and swim about when it's just me, I feel proud that they trust me

 

[Seisage]

It's really hard to define intelligence because it takes so many forms. But the evidence suggests it evolved pretty early, as would make sense. It's helps survival.

The problem with understanding intelligence is that "intelligence" as we define it is inherently based on our perception and experience of the world. A clam's retraction response to touch, for example, is only considered "unintelligent", "primitive", or "basal" because for our purposes, "intelligence" is a standard where we are the baseline by which everything else is measured. By our definitions, "intelligence" manifests as behaviors like complex social structures, solving of specific kinds of (human-designed) puzzles, or self-recognition in mirrors (wow, just like humans do! Funny coincidence, huh). But why? Why should that be what is considered intelligent? Why is a relatively "simple" response to light or touch not intelligent? We're the only animals who care about this sort of thing, so naturally, we set the standard based on what we experience ourselves. I have to wonder what the clams would think of our definitions if we could communicate with them.

Frustratingly, intelligence is often treated as a quality scale, rather than a measure/tool by which to truly understand another being's experience. "Intelligence" = importance in most facets of pop science, and ultimately research as well. "Intelligent" animals like gorillas, dolphins, or octopuses are treated as more worthy of study than "unintelligent" species.

Regardless of the way it's used, "intelligence" is a relatively unhelpful measure in my opinion. Because, again, what really is "intelligence"? Ultimately, it's a measure of how similar an animal's cognition is to humans. It's not truly meaningless, of course. An animal's similarity to humans is an interesting thing (to us, the humans). But "intelligence" is treated as a set of standards that can apply to everything, as if every animal can have its intelligence measured, and that's just not the case. Because intelligence is standardized on human behaviors, and we are so different from most animals, our baselines simply cannot be applied to most of them. Essentially, a dolphin is only considered more "intelligent" than a worm because a dolphin's behaviors are more similar to ours than a worm's are.