Episode 49: How smart are fish?

Episode 49: How smart are fish?

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” There is a common, but inaccurate, public perception that fish aren’t very smart. To dispel this myth, scientists and fishers are joining forces to share their knowledge and observations with the hope of improving the public’s understanding of fish intelligence.

In this episode of Naturally Speaking, Taya Forde (@tayaforde) speaks with 2016 Buckland Professor of Fisheries Felicity Huntingford and biologist Dr Martina Quaggiotto (@mmquaggiotto) about current research into fish intelligence—from their ability to form complicated 3D mind maps, to learning to visually discriminate among over 40 human faces! Life-long fishers Charles Jardine (@charlesjardine) and Marshall Bissett join the discussion to share their personal experiences of how smart fish can really be.

Dr Quaggiotto, in collaboration with Prof. Huntingford, is developing an interactive e-learning presentation on the smartness of fish for the general public. Sponsored by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, the University of Glasgow and the Buckland Foundation, it will be available during summer 2017.

Links to the journal articles about archerfish behaviour and learning (1, 2, 3), 3D visual discrimination, tool use, experience and behaviour, habitat and movement patterns, and social learning mentioned in this podcast can be accessed by following the hyperlinks provided.

Don’t forget you can subscribe to automatically receive all our latest content, or just our podcasts.

Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Feature image courtesy of Deborah McNeill. Photo of brown trout courtesy of Sonya Auer. Photo of fishing trawler © Rosanna Milligan, http://www.wildoceanphotography.com. Logo created by Martina Quaggiotto and digitized by Elisa Davi.