JstJake

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/0...ish-smell.html


Smelling underwater is in fact a truly amazing feat, and all my attempts to recreate this feat have proved entierly unsuccsesfull. We have seen underwater species smell food, but this 'finding way home' ability is a whole other level to previously expected 'smelling' ability of fish.

I was wondering with this in mind a new 'tankfreshner' will come on the market, prehaps making the clownfish feel a little more at home.

If the same ability is proven in bettas, presumabley we could show that they actually prefer 'fresh' water rather than the 'puddles' the LFS say they love so much!

Jake

Alessa

Thanks for the info very interesting!

clinton1621

All fish have the capability to smell their surroundings, that is the main way other than sight that they find food, mates, and sense danger.

EDIT : Fish also 'taste' their surroundings... their 'taste buds' are constantly sensing any chemicals, like food... toxins... metals, that pass through their mouth as they pass water over their gills. This is also why they refuse to eat certain foods... they dont like the taste lol.

Allie

They must feel things easily. When someone door slams on our floor...the fish use to jump in the living room tanks. The piranha would hide.
Fish have feeling and senses like we do but in a fishy way. Fish have more intelligence than some fish keepers I know lol.

JstJake

I agree, I've read about many species that are virtually blind (skin grows over their eyes ect), so prehaps this shouldn't be so surprising.

Is it similar to smelling in air? Do diffrent varieties of fish have diffrent 'smelling' capabilities? I hope all these questions are answerd in the future!

clinton1621

This would be their ability to sense changes in water pressure and sound waves through water... they dont have ears, but they have sensory organs that pick up even the slightest vibrations in water or even the slightest changes in water pressure... this is another way they find food and sense danger.

Tavel

It does work the same way as in air. Basically, the fish have chemical receptors that accept certain molecules, just like terrestrial animals. You can readily observe that different species have vastly differing smelling capabilities...catfish vs. tetras, for example.

pamd

Interesting article, JstJake, and interesting responses. I wonder if there's even more to fish senses and intelligence than even the most advanced research allows people to understand.

I was out of town for a month in July/early August. When I returned, my female betta, Candi, almost died for no explainable reason. Her temporary animal-loving keeper said she had missed me, and he had done his very best to take care of her.

Fishlore member Martinismommy (while staying with me online through a couple of long late nights) said I should talk to the betta. Talk and talk and talk I did. The unresponsive, near-dead-looking little girl made a fairly amazing recovery.

What's with that? What was Candi perceiving through her fish senses? While she appeared to be dying at the bottom of the tank, losing color, lying on her side, gasping for air, she obviously could see me looking at her and my lips moving, but there's something more going on there. I don't think my voice was loud enough to actually create vibrations in the water, but is that possible? Her aquarium is on a very stable tile kitchen counter-top. It seems she actually "heard" me, somehow, in a fishy way that's difficult if not impossible for us mere humans to understand.

Why do our fish love to be talked to/sung to? Of all the fish I've ever known, bettas are by far the biggest lovers for this kind of attention, but they're not the only ones. BTW, I have no delusions about fish knowing individual words. They probably don't. Or do they know, for example, their own names? Nothing would surprise me.

I'm so curious about fish senses, and how they're different from ours.

goggles2

that quite fascinating pamd!

cant say ive ever talked to my fish mostly because they are very shy and not used to people being near the tank usually they all hide when someone comes near the tank

well except my spotted raphael he is very friendly and will actually let you pet him and pick him up which is strange because most people say that raphael catfish are very shy

Tavel

fish can hear too, probably just as well as we can. They can hear everything just fine in the water...water is a much better conductor of sound energy than air.

fyi: To my knowledge, the lateral line is the only sense which we have no equivalency to.

I talk to my fish all the time, though mostly in a joking way ("what's up fishies!"). I live near a pond and feed the bluegills, and they come when I call them. my babies are getting so big! More food for the seagulls I guess, haha.

Coryd55

The lateral line is very sensitive and can sense the slightest change in pressure in the water. That is why when you see schools of fish it seems as if they are one organism. They use the lateral ling the feel the others turning and one can't even notice a delay in the movements. So that shoudl give you an idea of how sensitive it is.

Salmon also smell their way to their place of birth. They use olfactory organs for this. They are so keen with these senses that they can locate their birthplace to within a 10 square foot area. Very amazing.

As to your story Pam, I have no idea.

I also wasn't aware that fish could hear, thanks for sharing.

owain

Am I right in saying that certain types of Sharks can smell the blood from a injured prey for miles?

Coryd55

You are correct. Sharks can smell 1 part blood in 1 million parts seawater. They use their olfactory organs as well.