Fish Have the Ability to Count to 4
This is the second submission that was published in Aquarium Fish International. The article highlights the research findings of a study in Italy where scientists determined that mosquito fish are able to count up to four. That just still seems so awesome to me.
Scientists in Italy published evidence that fish are capable of counting. Researchers at the University of Paudua demonstrated that female mosquito fish, when pursued by a male, fled his attentions and joined the largest nearby shoal. These data suggested the fish could differentiate between a large shoal and a smaller shoal, but the first experiment did not determine how precisely the fish could count. In a follow-up set of experiments, the team determined that the mosquito fish would consistently pick a group of four fish over a group of three fish and a group of three fish over a group of two fish, and a group of two fish over a single fish, demonstrating the fish’s ability to clearly differentiate between one and four fish. The fish, however, were not able to distinguish between larger groups of fish unless the larger shoal was at least two times the size of the alternate. (For example, the mosquito fish would preferentially choose a shoal of sixteen fish over a shoal of eight fish, but could not consistently distinguish between shoals of twelve and eight). The researchers state that the mosquito fish’s ability to count puts them on par with human infants six to twelve months of age, and is similar to the abilities of monkeys and dolphins.
Published in Aquarium Fish International, September 2008: page 18
Summary based on an original article published here:
Clover, Charles. Editor. “Fish Can Count to Four-but No Higher”. Telegraph. Retrieved April 1, 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml;jsessionid=pb3lg1cbiej
Write a comment
You need to login to post comments!
