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It depends how you measure intelligence. I would say quite a few species of cichlids and some labryinth fish are about on the same level and well above average. My paradise fish would swim about the tank eyeing everything and you could just see him thinking about what to do with this object. If he didn't like the fish/snail/plant he'd suddenly take a nip at it then swim on to the next thing. My johanni cichlids observed and reacted to their environment in much the same way. My tetras and cory don't seem to notice or care and only react to things that directly affect them like the net or food. They don't observe their environment and try to control/change it like the paradise fish or cichlids do. Every fish I have will wiggle and come up for food and every fish can recognize me as the one that feeds them instead of the rest of the family. I would consider that normal fish intelligence/behavior.

Corys!-My corys do a breakfast dance for me in te morning when I walk into the room. The other day I saw two of my giant schwartzis helping a tiny panda to find the food, if it went the wrong way they would push to the tablet. (This cory had shorter barbles but it came like that from my lfs, so that is probably why it couldn't find the food.)Also like Calis story about the red spaghetti and the pencil fish stealing it!

Platys in some ways, some not at all though- My platys swim to the front of the tank when ever I walk in front of the tank, they don't do this to anyone else. Also when it is feeding time, I can stick my hand in the tank right next to them and they won't run away. I can also pat them and they won't mind, and they eat out of my hands!

Gouramis-My gouramis know exactly where there is food, they remember where I normally drop the cory tablets and they are always waiting there in the morning. I once was putting a freeze-dried tubifex sqaure down to the bottom of the tank for the corys and thge gouramis came and just grabbed it out of my hand!

I don't really know about cichlids as I haven't kept them, but I believe they are pretty smart, as I have a book that had a story about a cichlid and its babies.

porcupine puffers

Larger predators, of course. Most cichlids, especially the South Americans, show considerable intelligence, as do a number of the 'oddball' predators, like bichirs, gobies, etc.

I honestly have no idea which fish would be the most intelligent...but here are my thoughts based on what I have or have had:

Guppies, what other fish could would "think" to have a million fry at a time to be sure that it's bloodline carries on. Also I've had fry survive when no plants were available, you know that must take some brains.

Goldies, because they can sense when you are going to be coming home or coming into a room, and move to see you...Of course my goldies also prayed to a fake log

Cichlids, In my tank, they all know that Bubba has to be the first to eat, or greet me with a nibble to my fingers, otherwise I will be disappointedOk let's face it he'll start a fightbut, he's not a bully

C. Hasbrosus (Dainties) What other fish can swim to the airstone and dive bomb it in such a speed it amazes all, and just before you're sure they'll hit the stone itself, they about face and fly to the surface

Then of course the bettasLeslie managed to train her betta, Gofish to flair anytime he saw her...of course Gofish is a little crazy:%)but we love him anyways...

Let's just put it this way, fish have a lot more intelligence than a lot of people I have met

Heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I'd have to say a F8 puffer is the most intelligent fish.

It might be a cichlid or predatory catfish, solitary predators seem to be the most intelligent fish out there.
I agree with Molly, the wolf cichld is certainly very intelligent. Oscars and red devils are pretty smart too, though I'm sure there are mur smurter cichlids to be found.

Last edited by sirbooks at 29-Mar-2005 10:43

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Anyone else ???

Me? Heck no. A 36" cichlid that can't really be housed with anything else? I don't exactly have room for a 400 gallon tank. But they are indeed very cool.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

Dude,

Just checked this out on internet, that is one cool looking Cichlid, you got one ??

I suspect P. dovii, the Wolf Cichlid, is way up on that list.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

A DOLPHIN!

Cichlid does have higher intelligence above most other fishes n can be train to 'play' with owner. especially Larger species of Cichlid ,the kind with the big hump on their head.

One other intelligence fishes wanna high light is arrowana,some of my friends claim that their arrowana can be intelligence enough to be able to watch their favourite TV show

in the aquarium world, I'd have to say New World Cichlids. My Rams always look at my other fish like they're stupid. They love to investigate, they know who to avoid in the tank, they recognize myself and my mother. And by "recognize" I mean the paler of the two will swim up to my mother and dance for her ('tis her "ghost" fish) and the darker of the two will follow me around when I'm looking for other hiding fish.

Outside the aquarium world (in terms of fish) I'ld say grouper. They never run when you don't have a speargun in hand, but the minute you do you'll never, ever see one. -.-

Sounds to me like conditioning rather than intelligence, Tort.

Bichirs are, I believe, fairly primitive fish in respect to taxonomy. Thusly, I don't really see them as being capable of matching brain power with larger new world cichlids. However, I've only ever had experience with Senegals (as opposed to your hundreds of species ), and even then they would just sit around all day.

my vote has to go to the midas/red devil. my old midas used to examine all types of things in her tank. she'd examine holes/caves to see if she could fit inside...and by examine I mean she'd turn all different directions so she could see at every angle. if she could fit inside, she'd go in but if not she'd swim away. she definitely recognized me as she would always greet me at the glass and follow me around if I walked back and forth in front of the tank. if anyone else approached she was very hesitant. she was also very intrigued by the light on the heater. anytime the heater kicked on I could find her checking out the orange light that comes on.

oscars are also very intelligent fish as are many other new worlds. the only thing that really set that midas I had apart from all the others I kept was the way she investigated things. it was great to watch. man I really miss that fish...I traded her in when I bought my festae

Polypterids and like species are also, IME, not so smart; rather, they have very fine tuned instincts.

Oh, I don't know about that....

I have a tank in my kitchen that is in line of sight of my fridge. The bichirs in the tank all kick up a fuss then line up along the front glass when a certain combination of two things happens...I (no-one else, only me) open the freezer door (not the lower fridge part, only the upper freezer). Their food is kept in that freezer, and it would appear that they recognise the location of the food, and the person who retrieves it.

Interaction doesn't really reflect intelligence, IMO. Catfish have proportionately small brains. They don't have the "analytical" powers of large guapotes. As you said, I generally experience very little interaction with my my cats, but they know when they're being fed. When I approach the tanks, my glasscats go nuts. My loris seem a bit more skittish, though.

Well, I have blue dwarf gouramis and while they are smart, I think my mollies were much smarter. I also think Petey, my rubbernose pleco is pretty intelligent. My harleys recognize me and come at feeding time but I definitely wouldn't put them on the list. But the coup de gras is Flipper, my freshwater dolphin. (mormyrus tapirus (sp)) mormyrids (dolphins, elephant noses etc) have a very high intelligence, and use more of their brain than humans do. He is very bright, recognises everyone in the room, plays with us and searches out every nook and cranny in the tank. methodically

If you mean true dolphins and not the ones kept in aquariums or fished as game fish(Coryphaena hippurus?) then they are mammals not fish. It's been argued that dolphin (and some species of whales) intelligence is greater than apes and second only to humans.

I was thinking about this earlier and it a question occured to me about fish intelligence. We all know that fish do not have a 30 second memory , but which are the most intelligent fish. A few people I know say Cichlids or Catfish.

I would like your opinions on this matter.

The Angel fish at work seems to be the most intelligent fish, then the gourami, then the New Guinea Rainbow fish.

The Angel always goes to the top of the tank if anyone approaches, but if I go over (I feed them all), she does this sort of excited sort of tail flicking and swims back and forth quickley.

If I hold a flake just above the water she'll poke her nose out and grab the food.

The Gourami will hide most of the time at the back of the tank and only come over when I look into the tank. When he is coming over to feed he usually chases off the other fish (except the Angel).

Let me know

Work Aquarium 110L
(not my choice of fish but look after)
2 New Guinea Rainbows
1 Angel (needs to be moved before it gets big and eats tetras)
6 Neon Tetras
3 guppies
4 Corrie
4 small Golden Chinese algae eaters (need bigger home soon)
1 Red Dwarf Gourami

well, I have a pair of oscars, both female, they sure are intelligent but they can't seem to tell which one is male or female.They lay eggs and do the love dance all the time, but the eggs never hatch.Hands down oscar is pretty smart, but smartness can also be determine by their parents, just like human is.

Last edited by Trojan_man at 31-Mar-2005 00:52

Out of all our fish I'd have to say the oscars

I think it also depends on the level of interaction with your fish. If you leave a catfish in its tank, and just leave food after lights out, its not gonna recognize the hand that feeds it.

But i've had one hoplo catfish, and i fed it every single day by using some frozen bloodworms, and i'll hold the frozen worms in my fingers inside the tank. After a while, my hoplo recognized those "strange lil things holding food for me" *aka my fingers*, and pretty soon, it would swim up to me, and nibble at my fingers.

I agree. Catfish are among the dumbest of fish--and I'm a catfish fan.

Polypterids and like species are also, IME, not so smart; rather, they have very fine tuned instincts. This applies to livebearers and belontid fishes as well.

I believe the aforementioned cichlids, mainly new world species, are quite intelligent. A particularly rambunxious jag at work has figured out how to overturn the frozen food feeder to get to the goods. Certain oscars are reported to recognize themselves when presented with a mirror, but I have my doubts on this. I don't find puffers particularly intelligent myself--all they do is eat, excrete and search for another meal.

I'm surprised people are saying catfish. In my opinion, they are some of the least intelligent fish out there. Catfish are basically nothing more than mouths, muscle, and fins.

I consider fish like Perciforms and Polypterids to be very intelligent fish based on their behavior.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

oscars and other cichlids seem to be fairly intellagent my oscar seems to know when feeding time is (around 9) cus around then he always hangs up toward the top of my tank.. also paradise fish seem smart... mine jumps through hoops cus i trained it to sign of smartness (it can be trained..)

If you can call them fish, Octopus hands down are the smartest with the cuddle fish at close second.

But as far as "real" fish goes I'd have to say puffers in general are extremely intelligent. Some more than others but the smartest of the species far exceeds any cichlid.

They have been labeled as aqua-dogs. And this from a cichlid fan.