CLEANER WRASSE CAN RECOGNIZE ITSELF IN A MIRROR, BUT IS THIS ENOUGH?
The cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)
is a small fish, averaging 10 cm long, and has become the first fish ever to pass the mirror test, a behavioural technique to determine whether a non-human animal possesses the ability of visual self-recognition.
Until now, only charismatic mammals and birds have passed the test, also in 2016, two captive manta rays were filmed checking out their reflections in a mirror, suggesting self recognition in fishes.
The mirror test is bassically a mirror with a dot or a mark, researchers can observe if the animal investigates or interacts with the mark on its own body. Passing the mirror test suggests an animal understands of that the marked reflection is a representation of its own marked body, and not just another member of its species. But, is the mirror test enough to find self-awareness in this small fish?
Self-awareness involves having a working knowledge of your own mental states, like thoughts and emotions, along with an understanding of how you physically appear; self-recognition, in contrast, is limited to knowing the latter. It’s unclear how much self-recognition implies self-awareness and more studies are needed in order to find more prove of cognitive abilities in animals.
ever since i was little i have been terrified of paddlefish. i saw a couple’a paddlefish swimmin around at the shedd aquarium in chicago and i knew they just weren’t for me. no wildlife had or has ever really scared me except for them. in my fear i still had curiosity so i read about them and the little sign said they live in the ohio river, which was bad news for me.
for years every time we drove over the river and i was terrified the bridge would collapse and we’d plummet into the murky depths and we’d all survive miraculously only so a paddlefish could swim through our shattered window.
when i got to college to study wildlife i found out that paddlefish are endangered in ohio and required our protection. I thought …..how Inconvenient.
Now I will dedicate my life and passion to them.
but they better not EVER look at me.
This? This is what you’re afraid of? These fish with handles?
I am who I am and I don’t owe anyone any explanation
those fish with handles get Big! person-sized or so. they swim around with their mouths open like idiots and eat whatever small things go down their throat.
I’m not being sarcastic. I wish you’d been my ichthyology professor.
The highest compliment!
It used to be thought that paddlefish used their paddles to dig around in the mud and unearth food. This is what platypi do, but paddlefish are not platypi. Their handles are lined with sensors that are presumably used to detect things like water movement, scent, and alien communication signals. This may help steer them towards higher concentrations of food. No word on whether they eat the aliens or if the aliens feed them something.
Since paddlefish eat by swimming around and waiting for food to go in their mouths, you can’t catch them on a regular rod and line setup unless one blunders its mouth into your hook. Instead, people catch them by snagging them with hooks attached to thick line and hauling them in. Which sounds a lot like how some sort of horror movie monster would catch people. This is only legal in some areas and probably should be legal in none of them.
ever since i was little i have been terrified of paddlefish. i saw a couple’a paddlefish swimmin around at the shedd aquarium in chicago and i knew they just weren’t for me. no wildlife had or has ever really scared me except for them. in my fear i still had curiosity so i read about them and the little sign said they live in the ohio river, which was bad news for me.
for years every time we drove over the river and i was terrified the bridge would collapse and we’d plummet into the murky depths and we’d all survive miraculously only so a paddlefish could swim through our shattered window.
when i got to college to study wildlife i found out that paddlefish are endangered in ohio and required our protection. I thought …..how Inconvenient.
Now I will dedicate my life and passion to them.
but they better not EVER look at me.
This? This is what you’re afraid of? These fish with handles?
I am who I am and I don’t owe anyone any explanation
those fish with handles get Big! person-sized or so. they swim around with their mouths open like idiots and eat whatever small things go down their throat.
Do you like dried seaweed, or nori? Well, the fish do too. We dangle it in the water on a clip for the algae eating fish to graze on throughout the day.
-she actually let her owners touch her without feeding her. even queen fattyfats doesn’t let me touch her even if I’ve got a handful of food directly in front of her face. I doubt Hanako liked being pet much, but she still let them do it, which is pretty impressive.
-she recognized her owners’ faces and footsteps, and apparently would rush over when they called her name. once again, without food, although I can’t imagine that she wasn’t assuming it was food time.
-everyone who owned her was convinced that she’d die for them, and at least her last owner felt that it was a mutual thing.
-I cry about her a lot. she was just a good fish who loved people and I get very emotional ;_;
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