Inabón Yunes wrote on 7/23/2006 12:50 AM:
Fish are not intelligent at all, they don't need to be, they have instincts
instead of handling difficult decisions.

Not true.
Fish are able to learn who feeds them, and who doesn't.
Able to learn what the fish food container looks like.
Able to recognize the fridge when someone opens the door,
and they will beg for food every time you open the fridge
if they are used to getting frozen food.
Able to learn to come to you when you call them.
And able to learn many other things.

I used to raise fighting chicken. They are territorial and will defend its
domain to the death, literally.
You see, they have no choice, they will respond to a stimuli in the same way
over and over and over again.
So, if they get a response "starter" the reaction will be the same.
In the case of fish, well, they are a couple of steps down from birds in the
evolutionary scale.
They will be triggered by the reflection and will respond in the same way
for ever regardless of self-injury. Remember, animals don't know death or
that their wounds are not going to heal.

Not true.
Fish know when they are dying.

I visited a friend with a similar issue with a fish but he liked the
aggressive reaction of the fish. Well, I visited him two years later and
the same fish was doing the same funny reaction after an illumination
trigger.
But don't worry, as soon as they acknowledge its new "neighbors" as
harmless, they will go around and invest their energy in other things. Yes
they will comeback again but will not stay there for long. In the other
hand, if they associate the other fish with the pain they felt after the
hit, lol, you better change backgrounds.
iy


Fish are a lot smarter than people give them credit for.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets