So much for saying that goldfish have a thee-second memory-span. The can also recognize people. (Wikipedia)

  • TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca
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    13 days ago

    Myths like this have always made me kinda angry. Anybody that has owned fish for more than a few days could easily say that this isn’t true at all.

    But aside from that - animals simply wouldn’t exist if they were that stupid. The world is a dangerous place, especially underwater. Not having even basic memory and pattern recognition would be a one-way flight to extinction.

    • Grimy@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Even jellyfish can learn to spot and dodge obstacles, and they literally don’t have a brain.

    • Ephera@lemmy.ml
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      13 days ago

      Yeah, always felt like that this kind of myth is rather indicative of the intelligence of whoever actually believes it. Alas, most people probably don’t think about whether it actually makes sense…

  • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    So when we say the American public has the memory of a goldfish, we’re actually insulting the goldfish.

    • teft@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      You can actually hear better underwater since water is a better conductor of sound than air is.

    • naeap@sopuli.xyz
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      13 days ago

      Dolphins (and probably also Orcas) even call each other with their different names

      • TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca
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        13 days ago

        Fish do too. Fish have pressure sensors down the lengths of their bodies they use for navigation, sensing prey and predators, and communicating.

        My gouramis are making clicking noises in their tank as I type this. Love those things.