Smart tropical fish can differentiate faces
Q. Which tropical fish species is best known for splitting pressurised water jets to shoot prey out of the air and is a “smart” animal, according to research?- Published on 08 Jun 16a. Goldfish
b. Angel fish
c. Archefish
d. None of the above
ANSWER: Archefish
A tropical fish can tell one human face from another despite lacking a brain section that homo sapiens and other "smart" animals use for this task, scientists said on June 8, 2016
- The astonishing ability was demonstrated in experiments with eight archerfish, a tropical species best known for spitting pressurised water jets to shoot prey out of the air
- Instead of aiming at bugs, the sharpshooting fish were taught to spit at pictures of human faces displayed on a computer monitor suspended over their aquarium.
- The fish, which require excellent vision for hunting, were first introduced to two faces, and conditioned to spit at one of them in exchange for a food reward.
- The researchers then tested whether the fish would recognise, and spit at, the familiar face among 44 new ones.
- The fish got it right more than 80 percent of the time.
- Understanding fish intelligence may shed light on our own brain function- whether facial recognition is an innate or learned ability
