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There is a popular belief that goldfish only have a three-second memory span and every lap of their fishbowl is like seeing the world for the first time.
Children's films like Disney's Finding Nemo - in which one of the main characters is a dory who suffers from short-term memory loss - have done little to help dispel the myth that fish are dumb.
But a 15-year-old schoolboy from Adelaide has just debunked that theory.
He has conducted a simple experiment, which proves that the humble goldfish is smarter than we think.
"I mean it never really seemed feasible to me, that they had a three, five, 10 second memory because animals need their memory, so they build up over time a knowledge of where the food is," said Rory Stokes, a student at the Australian Science and Mathematics School.
"It seemed pretty impractical for a species to evolve without these capabilities."
He conducted a school experiment to prove his theory, using a small tank of goldfish.
"I decided to get a bit of red LEGO and just feed them next to that. Every day I'd put it in and sprinkle food around it," he said.
"At first they were a bit scared of it, a bit wary, but by the end of the three weeks, they were actually almost coming before I put the food in."
After leaving the fish alone for a week, Rory placed the red Lego block in the tank again.
"They remembered perfectly well," he said.
"They actually had a time faster than the average of the three feeds before I left."
The goldfish showed that not only could they retain information, they also had the ability to recall it at a later date.
Culum Brown, a research fellow at Sydney's Macquarie University, has studied fish behaviour for more than a decade.
He says his studies of Australian native species prove fish are intelligent creatures that know how to avoid predators and catch food like any other animal.
"The thing that I really liked about Rory's experiment is he not only got that classical conditioning going [but] the fact that he could get them respond just to that specific coloured marker I thought was really good," he said.
"One of the experiments I did was looking at teaching fish to escape an artificial trawl.
"The net had a small escape route in it and the fish just had to learn where that hole was and they learned that in about five trials.
"If you put the fish aside and test them a year later, they still remember exactly where the escape route is."
It is not a bad feat for an animal with a brain 380,000 times smaller than a newborn human baby.
But if fish are smart, it raises the question of whether it is cruel to keep them in tiny fish tanks.
"Definitely - I think the more complicated you make your fish tank, the happier your fish is gonna be," Dr Brown said.
"In fact, the best thing to do is to keep changing it around, so make it interesting for them.
"You'll find that if you do that, your goldfish will be much more active and much happier in general."
What else can I help you with?
What are the 7 market forms of fish?
one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, skinny fish, fat fish, cat fish
How many Legs do eighteen tropical fish have?
72 legs A tropical fish has 72 legs
How do you get all 7 breeds of magic fish in Fish Tycoon?
To get all 7 breeds of magic fish in Fish Tycoon, you need to breed and crossbreed different fish species to discover rare magic fish. Focus on breeding fish with the "magic" gene and experiment with different combinations until you unlock all 7 breeds. Additionally, ensure you provide the right environment, food, and care for your fish to help them thrive and reveal their magical traits.
In one fish how many humps are on mr grumps wump?
In the book "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss, Mr. Gump has seven humps on his Wump.
What is the second smallest fish?
The second smallest fish is the Dwarf goby (Pandaka pygmaea), measuring around 1 cm (0.4 inches) in length when fully grown. These tiny fish are found in marine and brackish waters in the Western Pacific region.
Does a fish have a 3 second memory?
NO.
How long Are fish's memories?
All fish a 3 second memory
Can a fish tell who its parents are?
no a fish has only a 3 second memory
How do you train a fish to ring a bell for food?
You can't. Fish's have a 4 second memory, you cant tell them to do anything.
What is a fish with 7 letters second letter h?
Whiting :)
Do fish have 30 second memorys?
This is a myth, they have much longer memories a whole 45 second memory. This has been proven in experiments, and on an episode of MythBusters.
How did people find out fish had a 3 second memory?
Fish do not have a 3 second memory. That is a falacy made up by someone of very little brain. Fish remember many things and will learn to respond to different people and different things. Controled Scientific experiments using mazes have proved beyond doubt that goldfish can and do learn and remember routes.
How long is a fish memory?
Fish have memories just like humans, they can remember anything!
Are sharks dumb?
Yes, fish are dumb. I heard that fish have a 8 second lasting memory, by that meaning they forget eveything in 8 seconds. They forget what they were doing, they forget where they are and stuff. Because of that reason I think it is intressting to watch fish for a while and see what they do because of their 8 second lasting memory. -Shea. A
Is cache memory is main or sec memory?
cache memory is neither main memory nor second memory. DDR's are Main memory and Disk is second memory.
What is 4 second memories?
I don't know what a 4 second memory is but I do know that no fish have one. All fish learn things like where to get food and who to hide from. So they certainly can't have short memories. You cut my answering off! but you are right.
Do betta fish lose their memory?
There are no published studies regarding betta fish memory at this point in time
