Stupid (Dumb) Fish Vs Intelligent?

[chesterjohn]

My four Leopard Bushfish have quickly learnt that food is on its way and they start queueing in the top-right corner, when they see me peel away the insulating curtains/liners/blankets/anti-frost net!

It's more pavlovian coditioning than intelligence. If everytime you feed them, you hold a tub of food up, they associate the tub of food with being fed.

Almost every time I go past the tank, they all go up to the top.

 

[Dudfield]

i have to disagree with the mollies as mine are quite inteligent, they no who i am and when feeding time is and they work with the angel fish by getting the plec pellets off the bottom and throwing them in the air for the angel to catch and eat

i tell you there planning something, just dont no what yet???

 

[Baccus]

Guppies... male or female would have to be the dopiest fish I've come across the stupid things think my hand/arm is food just because I'm doing something in their tank and if you try to net one the whole lot try to also get in the net. Not sure about smartest fish Oscars are pretty cluey but then the ones I knew never did work out the cats tail was not edible but they win in the sulkiest fish catogary. Just dare to rearrange their tank or worse clean it and they would sulk for days.

 

[Geoff-]

It's more pavlovian coditioning than intelligence. If everytime you feed them, you hold a tub of food up, they associate the tub of food with being fed.

Very true, goldfish can be easily conditioned that when you turn the filter off it's feeding time. I do this now and again with my tetras, as soon as the noise and water flow stops they drift up to the surface expecting food.

 

[coldcazzie]

I have always believed that fish basically have only three thoughts whic, alone or in some combination, govern pretty much everything they do:

1. Can it eat me?
2. Can I eat it?
3. Can I spawn with it?

Totally off topic, I think that's probably the thought process of every animal. Things fall into 4 categories (to quote the great Terry Pratchett):

1. things to eat.
2. things to run away from.
3. things to mate with.
4. rocks.


Back on topic again, not sure about intelligence. Most interactive: angels. But I'm not sure if following your finger aroudn incase they might be able to eat it, and doing the food dance whenever they saw you stand up classes as intelligence. In fact, I'd almost say that made them a little dumb for not understanding that me standing up off the sofa does not automatically mean I'm going to feed them. Dumb or eternally optimistic!

Stupidest would definitely have to be gouramis. And I shant specify which because they all seem to be as bad as each other.

 

[NottsFishy]

I have to say the stupidest fish i have ever owned are guppies due to the fact they never learn anything such as nets many fish i have owned see a net and run but guppies oh no they see a net and swim towards it lol.
Smartest fish i have owned have been angelfish and one silvertip tetra.
I had a shoal of silvertips but one was more intellegent than the rest he seemed to know exactly when any platy was about to have fry and where abouts they would have them in the tank he woud place himself in just the right place so he could go in and snap up a couple of fry when they were born none of the others seemed to learn this or even bother following him.

 

[Spitzy]

I have a candidate for the stupidist fish from my water change today. Most fish swim against a strong flow of water but earlier when I was doing a water change I put a bucket under the aquastop valve on my 305 and opened it a danio decided that it would like a go at the new water slide and ended up in the bucket

The brighest fish I have ever had was an Oscar I had years ago who, amongst other things, would stick his head out of the water and headbutt the glass cover when he wanted feeding. There was no ignoring him!

 

[trianglekitty]

My guppies don't seem all that bright either. They just swarm all day in the corner where I feed them. My dwarf gourami seems a lot brighter. He "plays" with my hand when I gravel vac and follows me as I go around the room, but knows I'm not going to feed him unless it's time. He'll eat from my hand as well and just in general acts like a finned little puppy.