Goldfish and other fish too have been shown to have relatively good memories.

In fact goldfish have been trained to navigate mazes and can recognize their owners after an exposure of just a few months, and it’s now believed that they have a memory of up to three months and perhaps somewhat incredibly, they can also tell the time!

Scientists at Plymouth University have successfully trained the fish to collect food at precise times of the day, and the findings support a growing body of evidence that fish are much more sentient and intelligent than had generally been assumed.

What’s more, in the tests that were led by Phil Gee of Plymouth University, goldfish were placed in a bowl in which they were fed only when they pressed a lever and the fish rapidly learnt that pressing the lever meant that they’d get fed.

As a follow on to this, the researchers set up the lever that would only work for one hour a day but the fish soon became wise to this, and learnt to press the lever at the same time every day to feed.

Dr Gee said;

"The fish worked out that if they hit the lever around that time, they would get some food. Their activity around the lever increased enormously just before the set hour when their food was dispensed. But then if no food came out, they stopped pressing the lever when the hour was up and it shows that they are probably able to adapt to changes in their circumstances, like any other small animals and birds".

Other recent research suggests that fish feel pain when they are caught on a hook, and that they can be manipulative and socially aware and can recognize their shoal-mates.

I am a keen angler. I sometimes fish on a private lake and I am certain that I regularly catch the same fish on the same day on the same bait. If fish have memory it must be really limited or they are masochists. On the other hand maybe they enjoy my company? Who knows? I will ponder this over my next coffee.

Matti

I was crazy about angling when I was a kid

12-14 years old and I’d go to lakes from 4:00am until night-time.

I loved being in touch with nature and seeing the wildlife wake up etc.

It was more important than catching fish.

But I had do stop because of the injured fish that I’d often throw back into the water.

I tried fishing in the sea so that I could eat what I caught, but there’s nothing subtle about it.

If that test is proven I guess we should avoid the phrase “He has a memory like a goldfish”. Fish just like other animals when trained can also be as good as dog in which they will do all the commands that we want them to do.

Or if we use that phrase, we would definitely use it to let him know that he’s got a good memory and he’s wise. How about it?

I agreed on you kelli it was definitely true that once you have a good memory it considered to be wise man but likely it’s other things to figure out?

Hi Matti,

I used to fish quite a bit and experienced the same thing as yourself. They probably take the same bait as it looks so real to them and are so hungry. Well that’s my theory!