Wild Fish Recognize Individual Humans Who Feed Them

Yes, people really do underestimate the cognitive abilities of fish.

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Study co-lead author, Maëlan Tomasek, with a fish “volunteer” in the behavioral experiment conducted in the Mediterranean Sea. (Copyright: Maëlan Tomasek / MPI of Animal Behavior)

Fish are much smarter than humans give them credit for. Consider, for example, the findings reported by a recent study conducted with wild fish in the Mediterranean Sea. This study was inspired by the local fish who would chase after divers — and steal food that the divers intended to be experimental rewards. That’s not so surprising, but the unusual aspect of this behavior is that the fish would follow only the diver who previously had food, ignoring all other divers. It was almost as though the fish could actually recognize individual human divers and remember who gave them food. But could they?

There is some anecdotal evidence indicating that fish do recognize individual humans, but this evidence comes exclusively from captive aquarium fish (). No one knew whether wild fish were capable of recognizing individual humans and remembering their previous interactions with them.

“[N]obody has ever asked whether wild fish have the capacity, or indeed, motivation, to recognize us when we enter their underwater world,” observed the study’s co-lead author, veterinarian Maëlan Tomasek, a doctoral student at the and the …