Animal Intelligence

In a previous entry I wrote:

As much as I believe animals possess profound intelligence, I don’t quite extend this to fish. By all reports, fish are pretty dumb.

Canaduck commented:

There is plenty of evidence that many fish are fairly intelligent. Here’s a whole set of links discussing the matter.

This set of links resides at a site called Fish School, which offers “techniques that make training pet fish not only possible, but also quick and fun too!”

According to Dr. Calum Brown of Edinburgh University, “Fish are cunning, manipulative, cultured, socially intelligent creatures who do not deserve their reputation as being dim-witted.”

In an NPR radio interview on fish intelligence, Dr. Jens Krause from the University of Leeds says that fish can learn from each other and can even use tools. In fact, recent research has shown that in some ways fish are as smart as dogs.

The list of fish links is impressive — a fine way to kill a lunch hour.