Which Do You Think Are Your Most Intelligent...

[smooth_bourbon]

I also have to go with Cichlids got to love a fish that begs for my food. I think Jack spends more time watching me then I do him. And when he sees me shoving something in my mouth he is out of his cave and giving me the puppy eyes.

 

[Ilya]

I have to say pleco's are the smartest, because they know how to be so cute when eating cucumbers :3.

 

[Danno]

I had a Betta once for 3 1/2 years and I was eventually able to train him. He could, by command, flare, unflare, gulp air, and do a lap aronnd his one gallon bowl. I used live blood worms for his treats. That right their is a sign of intelligence.

 

[Gatorbait]

Cichlids are the only fish I've ever had that can distinguish different people.

I've had many cichlids that would only come up to the front of the tank for me and me only. If anyone else came up they would get an agreesion rush of slamming the glass or hiding but I could come up and they would be wagging for me. Even if I did it before or immediately after someone else did. They definitely know their owners.

Many fish are "conditioned" for feeding. I don't think that has anything at all to do with any form of intelligence but yet, a survival instinct.

IMO, there's a big difference between conditioned response and intelligence.

 

[borissimo]

I think there is a difference between memory and intelligence.

IMO the only true example of 'intelligence' (which I would see as being able to work something out by reason?) so far are the fish in the first post by Tokis. I am not saying that fish are not intelligent, just that it takes a lot of observation and experiment to discover how intelligent they are.

As for my own fish, this is what springs to mind:

1. I had a two golden gouramis, one of whom amazingly got stuck inside the bottom of the internal filter we had at the time. He must have had a mad moment and darted into the vertical slat (which was extremely narrow) and become stuck. We looked everywhere for him inside and outside the tank and eventually took the filter apart. Anyway, needless to say he died in the filter and for weeks afterward the remaining gourami would feel the slats with his tentacles. It was so sad we had to buy another 'friend' for him.

2. The same gourami later appeared to 'look after' a sick pearl gourami (she more or less wasted away and we could not find out what was wrong). He seemed to chaperone her gently, bringing her back up from the danger of the loaches at the bottom of the tank and generally just staying with her all the time. He was actually a very lovely fish.

3. Finally I have to say that the Malawi cichlids that I lost last week (see 'Disaster' thread further back in this forum) were the most interested and aware fish. They were funny, interesting and always looking to see what was going on outside the tank and I don't think it was just for food. There were always little non-serious scraps going on, but if you snuck up on them at night time most of them would have disappeared into the rocks, which actually meant that they would have been pretty crammed together for fish that are supposed to be aggressive - but it was dead quiet in there!

 

[lilfishie]

have to agree with gupps, but also my bettas especially Royal, i have had him a week and already he will follow my around the room from his bowl, i am currently thinking about training him to do tricks as he loves notheing more than to follow my finger, although he bit me the other day, he also likes to decorate his bowl, he will move the gravel around which is soo funny to watch

 

[JackoUK]

My Bolivian Rams are without doubt my most intelligent fish. They seem to know what i'm going to do before I do.

I'd probably say my Zebras are the least intelligent. If I want to catch them I only have to leave the net in the water for a few seconds and they swim into it themselves. Either that or they just like going on holiday.

 

[Tolak]

Smartest seems to be cichlids, though I have to doubt my oscar's sanity. I've been working on these 150 gallon growout tubs in my fishroom, one of them leaked a little last week. No big deal, as I got several used, the leaker is an outdoor tub. I started filling another yesterday, fill 1/3 & wait. It was holding fine, no leaks, so I fill it 2/3, & wait.

This is when the oscar decides it's time to rip off the spraybar & shove it partially out of the tank. I go down there, and have a small creek across the floor, looks like a slightly leaking tub. Looking around the tub for where it's leaking I see that it's bone dry. I start checking other tanks, hoses, etc, no leaks. I'm starting to think some of the house plumbing is leaking, and start following the leak back, looking up. This is when I notice the loose spraybar with water dripping down the back. I swear, this oscar had a smirk on its face, it just sat there looking at me. I was tempted to drop the heater down & let him drain his tank down to 1/4 full.

 

[borissimo]

That reminds me of when my cichlids managed to smash their glass thermometer - I found it at the bottom of the tank and had a panic but no one was hurt. I bought them another and that one disappeared completely and I never found it at all. They now have a digital one with a probe which they cannot do anything to (I don't think)

 

[Meds081603]

Nothing shows intelligence like an oscar or pair of oscars hunting. Especially when their prey is tiny guppy feeders and they are in a huge tank with many hiding places. It's fun watching them take turns chasing the fish out and being the one to eat.

 

[Amunet]

My bettas are my most intelligent. At least I like to think they are heh.
In my 10gal divided, I have a female and a male that like to flare/stare at eachother through the divider.
Well one day I noticed that my female was flaring like crazy through the divider.. what was she flaring at? Well my male had plastered himself against it almost as if he was teasing her. It was hilarious heh

And my betta Raj used to play with the mossballs in his tank (they've been taken out since they died). He would stare them down, then strike out quickly getting a mouth full of fuzz.. do this a few more times, then either rest on them or squeeze himself in between them to rest for a little bit. He loved those things heh. Not sure if that shows sign of intelligence but I thought it was cute and definitely wouldn't happen if the fish didn't have some sort of brains.

Also my betta Bluebell that resides in our community tank has figured out to follow the corys around to find the algae wafers that I drop in for them. She'll follow them, waits to see if they've found something, then will chase them away and will pick at it (which is why she's so fat right now).