Proof that fish do have feelings

[Alan79]

Interesting topic really and unless someone can temporarily become a fish it's something that can only remain as a theoretical discussion.

I'm certain that all creatures with a brain are capable of the simplest emotions such as anger or excitement but for fish i would think that emotions would not be of a very complicated nature given their usually small brain size. I would strongly disagree with anyone who thinks fish only have an 8 second memory though.

As we progress through larger animal species with larger brains i think they become more capable of a recognizing a greater range of feelings. Almost anyone with a smart dog will be able to recognize when their pet is acting in a few different ways. My sister has a maltese X fox terrier who will ignore you for certain things. He gets offended if you take his toys away and will sulk for about an hour afterwards. Everyone is his friend except the person who took the toy. He sulks if he is not invited for short car trips in that if my nephews and nieces go with their mum and he is not invited he will not greet her when she gets home while he jumps all over the kids. After long trips this isn't the case, my sister is usually the first one he greets after long trips. He gets jealous if you pat another dog while walking at dog parks. He is a temperamental little dog to a larger extent than any dog i have known.

 

[ppo8820]

It always surprises me when people think animals do NOT have feelings. What sort of warped sense of self would you have to think humans are the only ones who can feel emotion? (not talking about you, just saying). Obviously all living things can feel and have emotions. Even simple creatures at least have survival instinct, which alone is the desire to live.

 

[Delapool]

I think we are talking about higher order human feelings though?

Having said that, what about fish that mate for life?

 

[Caliban07]

I find it amusing when people begin to try and provide answers for a topic such as this. Forgive me if there are any qualified ethologists or animal scientists amongst us but I don't think any of us can truly answer a question like this can we



Scientists do not fully understand the brain of our own species let alone the brain of another. Even now after all these years we are still observing, studying, testing on animals looking for answers but as Alan79 quite rightly pointed out without becoming a fish we are only ever really going to be able to hypothesise.



Our theories are only ever going to be based on what Tolak was inferring. Thinking or feeling or better still what we believe.



There is nothing wrong with believing a fish has emotions just as there is nothing wrong with believing they don't. We are not hurting anyone are we?



What I believe is that it is better to ask questions than try to answer them, this in my opinion bodes better for discussion in a topic that we hold limited knowledge.



My questions are:



1. Is anxiety classes as an emotion?

2. Do animals experience anxiety?

3. If the answer is yes, do fish experience anxiety.

4. If the answer is again yes, do fish have emotions?


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[Patty1980]

Could be a type of "fight or flight" or stress causing a sense of impending doom.....interesting convo....

 

[TheChefSLC]

i think they do have some basic "feelings". I have based this off of the observations of my male blue ram.

2 weeks ago, my 2 blue rams mated. They had a great parental instincts and did good till they took the fry to swim by the filter intake.

After the loss of the fry, the female got a red spot on her side, it was a hemorrhage from an internal injury, infection or parasite, i don't know and hopefully never will.

Well after i seen the red spot, i took her out of the tank and into my QT to try and treat her with some salt and melafix. the next day my male ram went crazy and was pacing non stop all day. I believe this is due to him loosing his mate and trying to locate her.

 

[Fishy_Friends]

It always surprises me when people think animals do NOT have feelings. What sort of warped sense of self would you have to think humans are the only ones who can feel emotion? (not talking about you, just saying). Obviously all living things can feel and have emotions. Even simple creatures at least have survival instinct, which alone is the desire to live.

Because science shows us that. They can learn though.

 

[mPhish]

Animals do have feelings. They may not be the same as ours, but they exist. Several expieriments have been conducted on this very subject. Researchers discovered that dogs, cats, and primates have the same spindle cells that humans have and that are responsible for human emotions. Some animals have more feelings than others just like humans. We do not understand animal culture and language though. I liken it to taking a person and dropping them into a foreign country where they do not know the language or cultural norms. They would have a very hard time understanding you and understanding why you do certain things.

This is true! We did a project on it in school, which I very much enjoyed.
This story is so sweet.

 

[Fishy_Friends]

You can't generalize animals as a whole at all. A fish doesn't even compare to high thinking animals like dolphins and chimps.

 

[jetajockey]

I agree. The comparison between mammals and fish is not a good one. Fish don't have complex emotion ,I.e. feelings. They do have basic instinctual drive. They do feel pain and know fear. But they don't get angry or sad when you walk past the tank and don't say hello to them.
There's plenty of research on the subject out there for those willing to dig.

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