What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins in Science and Inquiry

Apr 09, 2017 Petra X rated it really liked it

Shelves: medicine-science, animals-ethology, 2017-100-reviews, 2017-read, reviewed

Years ago I had an extraordinary experience with squids when I was snorkelling off an unknown reef very close to a tiny island about 100 yards from shore. If the reef had been known there would have been very few parrotfish and cowfish, both of which are good eating. There would also have been no supermale parrotfish. A supermale is a female that has turned into a male and is double or more the size of the other fish and also much more beautiful and brightly coloured and absolutely delicious to Years ago I had an extraordinary experience with squids when I was snorkelling off an unknown reef very close to a tiny island about 100 yards from shore. If the reef had been known there would have been very few parrotfish and cowfish, both of which are good eating. There would also have been no supermale parrotfish. A supermale is a female that has turned into a male and is double or more the size of the other fish and also much more beautiful and brightly coloured and absolutely delicious to eat.

So I was snorkelling and I saw a little squid, it stayed still in the water and was rapidly changing colour. Then it was joined by another, then another until there were about 7 of them of varying sizes from about the size of your hand up to forearm sized all in a row and all rapidly cycling colours. I called out to my ex to come and see but come slowly not to scare them. I didn't think they would stay. He swam over and by then there were about 11 squids and it was apparent to both of us that they were staring at me. They were as curious and interested in me as I was in them and they didn't go away for quite a few minutes. They were no more shy than I was and as I had called my ex, so they had 'called' each other. Perhaps it was because no one knows of the reef they live in they weren't frightened of people, I don't know.

What I learned from this book:

1. If we thought of fish as we do mammals we would stop thinking of them as 'other' and realise that they have the same five senses (plus more). Having the senses means using them and implies learning from experience (don't touch that sea urchin again, it not only stings, but poisons).

2. That people judge intelligence by how like us the animal thinks. We do too. All those books on animal intelligence are just about measuring how like us the animals solve problems that humans set them.

3. That scientists rail against anthropomorphising animals, but if we did a bit more with fish, if we were more empathetic and understanding we would see that they have personalities, liked to play and not pretend that they can't feel pain and have no consciousness so it's ok to come into my shop and say (as plenty of customers do) that they are 'basically vegetarians' but eat fish.

Here in the Caribbean, diving is good career. People come every week and want to be taken to see the reefs. The divers nurture relationships with generally-friendly fish like rays, giant groupers (Goliath fish) and some of the sharks so that their clients will have an interesting experience. Not all of these relationships are based on food. They never are with sharks. It would be foolish to feed sharks! But nevertheless, over years the divers and individual sharks get friendly and the sharks come and rub against the divers, much as cats do, and like to be caressed. What's in it for the fish is the same as what's in it for the people, it's entertaining, it's nice to see friends, what else could it be?

The book, to sum up, was quite boring. I was hoping for more than the author's conjectures based on our common senses, what is known about fish and their life cycles, and anecdotes (like mine). Few of his assumptions and conclusions were ones that were new to me. I don't think it's the fault of the author, it's just that fishes inner lives are mostly a mystery.

3.5 stars rounded up because the author did his best and at least opened a dialogue into the idea that fish are as deserving as consideration as other animals when it comes to protecting them from pain and harm. ...more

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Apr 08, 2018 Navi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: animals, kindle, nonfiction, science

This is the most delightfully charming work of nonfiction I have read in a long time!

I have heard on numerous occasions that fish are nothing more than “water vegetables”, lacking feelings of pain, memory, familial love and social structure. They are continuously looked upon as a distinct species separate from the rest of the animal kingdom because they do not embody features we associate with more “sentient beings”.

I used to work in a Fish and Reptile department at a pet store. I have intimate This is the most delightfully charming work of nonfiction I have read in a long time!

I have heard on numerous occasions that fish are nothing more than “water vegetables”, lacking feelings of pain, memory, familial love and social structure. They are continuously looked upon as a distinct species separate from the rest of the animal kingdom because they do not embody features we associate with more “sentient beings”.

I used to work in a Fish and Reptile department at a pet store. I have intimate memories of fish that recognized me when I came near their tank, liked to be touched, and had specific preferences with which fish they spend their time with. At the time, I thought it was all in my head and I was giving fish more credit than they deserved by anthropomorphizing them. However, there was always a lingering doubt in the back of my mind.

This book was a luminous revelation to me. The author's sincere passion and care for the welfare and advocacy of all "fishes" (instead of grouping them all together as a singular fish, the author makes a point of using the plural form to indicate that they are a group of individual fish with different likes, dislikes etc.) is embedded throughout the text.

Some interesting things I learned:

- Our assumption that fish are quiet is false. They make an array of different sounds to communicate with one another - one comical method is through (I kid you not) farting!

- There was a study exploring the relationship that Koi have with music. The researchers found that Koi correctly discerned different musical cues and were able to classify music by artistic genre (blues, classics etc).

- Fish are curious beings and gain stimulation through various modes of play. There is an anecdotal case where a cat and a fish play a running game with each other that was endearing. This is especially important for fish owners. I can’t imagine what a fish must feel living in an empty tank isolated without anything providing a source of entertainment or aesthetic comfort.

- The intricacies involved with the symbiotic relationship between fish and their cleaner were fascinating.

After reading this, I have a much deeper understanding and respect for our underwater cousins. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! ...more

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Feb 15, 2019 Charlene rated it really liked it

Shelves: biology

Interesting facts about fish:

Do fish feel pain? It seems that they do. If you expose fish to a pain condition, such as exposure to vinegar, they cannot complete their task. However, if you give fish pain medication, they can complete the task, despite the vinegar exposure.

Fish express anxiety over a variety of things (e.g. finding the correct shelter). Researchers observe various fish doing various tasks and identify the anxious fish, give the fish anxiety meds, and observe that they are less a ...more

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Oct 15, 2017 bup rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, science, consciousness, 2017, animal-minds, our-dying-planet, i-wonder-why-i-have-no-friends

The highlight, for me, occurred early in the book when the author pointed out that because fish can be fooled by optical illusions, some amount of consciousness must exist. It had occurred to me before that you can't have an illusion without consciousness - you can't make someone mis-perceive something if there's noone home to misperceive it (which is, incidentally, part of my problem with Daniel C. Dennett's claim we don't really have consciousness). So that was a wonderful bit of cleverness fo The highlight, for me, occurred early in the book when the author pointed out that because fish can be fooled by optical illusions, some amount of consciousness must exist. It had occurred to me before that you can't have an illusion without consciousness - you can't make someone mis-perceive something if there's noone home to misperceive it (which is, incidentally, part of my problem with Daniel C. Dennett's claim we don't really have consciousness). So that was a wonderful bit of cleverness for me - trying to determine consciousness by fooling the fish.

Anyway, fish can be fooled by some of the same stuff we are! They can see the smaller of two circles as larger if there are extra nearby circles making their relative sizes seem different. They also 'finish' shapes in their mind, 'seeing' a triangle that's only hinted at.

They also can distinguish musical genres! And he provides convincing evidence that fish feel pain (which, of course, for most of us, is "duh," but science requries agnosticism without good evidence, and some other people are just apologists who reject it out of hand because it's inconvenient).

They can tell humans apart. They can cooperate. They make referential gestures across species! Before people noticed moray eels pointing out prey for groupers, the only species known to do that were humans (and tangentially, dogs understanding those gestures), some other apes, and ravens!

Of course, the book ends with a section about how humans are evil and we're all doomed because we're killing the planet. I don't deny it - I get it and think it's a critical message, but it came out of left field for me in this book. Still, even that part was interesting, if only for some of the forehead-slappingness of it. For instance - ignoring the morality, farmed fish helps make the industry more sustainable, right? Well, no. Guess what they mostly feed farm fishes? Fish. What's the worst species in an ecosystem to hunt? The apex predator, right? Guess what tuna and marlin and sharks are. Oops.

I'm going off on tangents, like the book did at the end. But there's a lot of great, well-explained stuff in here. ...more

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