How smart are your bettas?

[invid]

My betta (Named Bait) is the weirdest fish I have. I swear he can understand vocal commands. Every morning when I get home from work, I open the flip top lid to his mini-tank and he looks up to see what's happening. I'll bust out the betta food, take out a little pinch and hold it above the water and say "Up top Bait". He promptly swims up to the surface and follows my hand until I drop the food. I can now walk up to him and just say "up top bait" and he will swim up to the surface and wait for his food. Then he gets disapointed and broods. He's also the bravest fish I have. If you stick your hand into any of my other tanks, the fish will scatter. My betta, on the other hand, will swim a slalom between your spread out fingers... He loves when you pet him.

 

[Alix]

my oscar rubs against my wrist when im cleaning the in side of his tank

 

[SusieJG]

OMG! I thought I was nuts because I thought that my other betta female recognizes her name. She lives in a 40 gallon-tall tank. She's an EXTREMELY social fish and was miserable when she didn't have other fish to play with. She lives with mostly guppies and its so funny because she thinks she's one of them!

Anyway, Since she is one fish in this large tank, although I often give her her own special food, if she is not near the surface the guppies will gobble it up before she gets even close. So we've developed "tricks" to make sure she gets her special food...and I honestly think she even believes the reason we're doing it. It started when she was only a few months old and I was searching the bottom for her and didn't see her-so without thinking I said "bonnie, where are you little girl?" and suddenly she pokes her head out of the window of one of the toy ships I have in there (which was really funny because the ship is really guppy size, so her face took up the whole thing). I say "Hi bonnie! Want some food?" and I go to feed her and she comes right to the top. Now I talk to my fish all the time, but usually its more for my own amusement then anything. I would always go to her when Is saw her by the glass and wiggle my finger near her and say "hi bonnie" or "hi little girl"...and whenever I feed the fish I start out with "who wants some yummy food?" or something like that...but I never talked TO a fish before-just kinda "at" them. So since then, when I'm looking for her I just say "Bonnie" or "bonnie where are you" and she comes out of wherever she is...if she's way back in the tank its so funny because she will jet forward and nearly knock over the other fish trying to get to the front of the glass where I am. If I say, "bonnie, food time" she will come out of hiding and jet to the top of the tank and find an empty area and wait for me in her "eating" position. If she is already out and I say either "bonnie, food time" or "hi bonnie, do you want some food" she will swim away from the other fish and get into her feeding position.

We also have a kinda code about where she will eat....although she is willing to eat anywhere, what she generally does is goes to a part of the tank that is relatively empty when I'm ready to feed her (different times every day), she will stake out a little territory and if while I'm getting the food another fish comes into that area, she will chase them away...even though I've never seen her be territorial at any other time. Often she will squeeze either into a corner or a place that would be difficult for the other fish to get to. If the others just wont leave her alone she will ignore any food dropped in the water and wait for me to hold it above the water so she can jump. Frightens my guppies silly!!! The other thing is i've noticed she knows her food from the other food, so occassionally instead of calling her, if she is near the glass I will hold the bottle right next to where she is and then bring it to the top and she will follow...but she wont do this with another bottle or my finger.

I really do think many of these guys really do have personality and intelligence. I've never seen ANY of my other types of fish act this way...the closest they come to intelligence is swarming to the top of the tank and the part closest to me whenever I am standing by the tank...but I think they are just hoping to get fed.

BTW-those pics of bettas are GORGEOUS. I definitely want to get a few more soon-but the ones at my LFS are so inbred that they have horrible colors and die quickly. If I see one that is sick or in distress I will usually rescue it or at least force the store to change its water and give it medication and food, but I think that I need to find a place to get some hardier bettas. Maybe a white one.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I know that my bettas know who I am. They are a bit skittish if someone new comes to see them, but when they see me they do a happy dance. Often all I have to do is look at them and they will swim to where they can see me best.

I also use different types of food, and they react differently to the different containers. If I have the BW cup, they all dance and wiggle. If it is just the betta bites bottle, they swim to the top and wait to be fed. If I look at them and I have no food, they just show off a little and then go back to what they are doing.

I have noticed this same behaviour with my other larger fish as well, such as angels, gouramis and rainbows. I have not noticed this behaviour in my hubby's tank, which is mostly populated with neons and harlequin rasaboras.

I think that bettas are one of the smartest small fish there is. For the brain size they have they are able to learn things. I also think that they recognize certain sounds, just like you can teach a dog to "sit" on command, you can teach a betta to come when you call them.

I think that they can feel depressed too. I had a girl in a 1g bowl inbetween 2 boys on my desk. My boy Don just loved her, displaying, making bubblenests, etc...She died yesterday and Don hasn't hardly moved from where he used to be able to see her. He just keeps looking at her empty tank wondering where she went.

I also had a tail biter that I thought was doing it from being overstimulated. He could see a number of his male "brothers" on my desk. So I moved him to hubbys desk where he couldn't see any other bettas. I swear he sulked for a week. He wouldn't swim around unless he saw me. He eventually got used to hubby, but at the last water change, I moved him back to my desk. He normally sulks after a WC for at least an hour. Not this time. I believe he was so happy to be back where he used to be that he forgot to sulk.

Bettas are really curious fish, which indicates to me that they have some sort of brain activity going on. If you give them a new toy, or plant or rearrange their tank, they will explore for hours. I try to spice up their life at water change time by rearranging their plants. They love to look around when they get back into their tanks.

Like SRC says, you have to interact with an animal to develop their personality. I notice a huge difference from when my boys were in the store to after they got to know me. It is like night and day. Especially when I buy one that is less active, or looks sad etc.. They perk right up once they know that they are safe and loved.

 

[MAM]

I like to think my fish have some smarts, on a certain level. But I can see as well how some see it as simply being conditioned to respond to certain stimuli. We're all allowed our own opinions here, there's no wrong or right. But think about it from the perspective for a minute. You say your fish reacts to you one way, but different to a total stranger. Maybe it doesn't recognize you the way people do, but maybe it can detect subtle signs its the bringer of food, such as your voice or some other more subtle sign (vibrations caused by your distinct movements or sounds perhaps..). I doubt they can see you the same way a person does, not a fish anatomy expert but somehow I don't think they have the same acute vision we do. So anyway, it comes to associate this sound, this vibration, whatever, this stimuli, with being fed. So whenever you come near the tank, the fish react, whether they're being fed or not. And they may associate the distinct sounds of a certain type of fish food from others. I really don't know, just throwing out ideas here to support both sides of the argument.

I wouldn't say fish are dumb though, far from it. They learn quickly what the signs are they are about to be fed, they seem to learn that the net is a bad scary thing. Okay, so those that continously pick up poo only to spit it back out, do make you question their intelligence sometimes.... (Then again, maybe its their subtle way of telling you to clean up the tank. Ah-ha, intelligence rearing its ugly head? Fish wrapping us around their little fins, making us their personal slaves? Hmmmmmm ) And I do believe that some fish have the capacity for learning beyond the basic instinctual things (like hide or flee from danger). You can train some fish to do tricks. Some fish, such as Oscars, love to "play" with toys and benefit from the stimuli. That to me suggests a somewhat higher level of intelligence than say a neon might have, it goes beyond the instinct to just exist. And sometimes, I even swear fish know just how to push my buttons when I'm trying to clean the tank (darn mollies, always nibbling on my fingers and scaring the crap out of me when I'm not expecting it.... ). Bettas are one fish that I do feel exhibit a higher level of intelligence as well. They respond to training beyond just "its time eat". Maybe it has something to do with not being a schooling fish but rather a more solitary species that allows them to develop a greater capacity for learning.............

Just my long-winded two cents.