How long is the memory of a fish?

Question

my fish remember where to swim to get fed every morning.

Answer 1

Fish can learn a certain type of behavior. My fish always go to the side of the tank where I feed them when I approach the tank. I think that if I quit reinforcing that behavior they would quit reacting the way they do. But they definetly have some to react in the same way to a stimulant.

Fish also seem to remember what a fish net is as well when they see one in my experience as well.

I don't think that fish have the same level of memory as say a cat or dog but they are smarter than many seem to want to think. Just ask a fisherman.

Answer 2

Was a topic on Mythbusters where they try to prove or bust myths. I disagree with you because the fish could use their sense of vision or smell. Here is what they did. They got 4 dividers in a big tank.Each dividers had holes that sent to another section of the the tank. At the other end lays the food. So the they did this for a week or something each day the fish had to find its way through the holes to the food. Over time the timing increased and the fish found their way faster. They did this with gold fish and they said that gold fish had more than 2 second memories. I do not know if this is true in all cases. But, if you really wanted to test it out then you can try something like this.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1179348.htm

That link might also help you.


Hope this helps.

Answer 3

This answer to this question depends on the type of memory to which you are referring. Basically, there are two types of memory: procedural and declarative. The first is memory for how to do something like ride a bike or tie a shoe and the second is memory for facts like who won a sports game or what you had for dinner last night. Fish and most organisms with brains that lack complex sub-cortical structures do not possess declarative memory or only in a very limited form. Procedural memory on the other hand in one of the cornerstones of all behavior. A fish will look for prey in a certain spot or rise to the top of the bowl at a certain time because that behavior has been reinforced. The "strength" of the relationship determines how reliably the fish will do the behavior and how long the behavior will endure. A very strong memory engram that has been reinforced across hundreds of trials may persist for the fish's whole life.

Answer 4

Well it's certainly not 3 seconds if that's wahat you're asking. It's definiteley longer than that but I don't know the exact number. I remember an episode of Mythbusters where they did an experiment and Jamie's involved red plastic and food. Also My angle fish remember to go to the top of the tank when they see me getting up in the morning and reaching for the fish food. I've had them for about a month and they already remember.

Answer 5

opposite to established conception, it particularly is been shown that a minimum of a few fish have thoughts lasting extra advantageous than in basic terms some seconds. I.e., goldfish have a memory span of a minimum of three months. i think many have comparable or maybe longer ones.

Answer 6

ignore all the people who will answer this with 1.5 seconds, or 5 seconds, or 7 seconds, or whatever the current length of time is determined to be by the internet. Fish have very long memories -- anyone with a pond of goldfish knows this. There have been many scientific studies to determine memory in fish, and it is generally measured in months to years, not seconds or minutes!

Answer 7

I'm not sure on the specifics...... but on myth-busters they did an experiment that showed that fish retain information alot longer than many say. How do you explain a fish getting comfortable with it's owner? Cichlids as well as many fish can identify it's owner. Fish are smarter than we think :)

Answer 8

I doubt seriously they remember where food is being kept, but they do have a very keen sense of smell and decent eyesight so if somebody is dumping food into the aquarium and they are hungry they are going to dash in that direction.

Answer 9

supposably 3 seconds but i saw this show on discovery were they tested if a goldfish had a three second memory. so they trained two goldfish(s) about five days 2 c if it could go thru hoops it ended up going thru all of them about a week later

pretty kool

Answer 10

Myth Busters busted that one just the other day!