Fish can recognise their own faces in pictures, according to research.
The study demonstrates they “think it’s me” when they see themselves in pictures. It is the first time the skill has been identified in creatures other than humans.
In the study, eight cleaner fish were shown photographs of themselves with a parasite-like mark on their throat. Six rubbed their throats in an attempt to clean it off.
None tried to remove the mark after seeing it in pictures of other fish.
Cleaner fish are known to be able to recognize themselves in mirrors and regularly attack other unfamiliar cleaner fish who intrude on their territory.
Each cleaner fish was also presented with four photographs: a photo of themselves; a photo of an unfamiliar cleaner; a photo of their own face on an unfamiliar cleaner’s body; and a photo of unfamiliar cleaner’s face on their own body.
The cleaner fish did not attack photos with their own faces but did attack those with the faces of unfamiliar cleaner fish.
The study, which was at carried out at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan suggests that the reputation fish have for stupidity may be unfair.
Prof Masanori Kohda, of Osaka Metropolitan University, said: “This finding suggests nearly all social vertebrates have this higher sense of self.”
A 2019 study found that fish can feel pain in a way that is similar to how humans experience it.
Another study in 2017 by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) involving zebrafish found that fish are sentient animals who form friendships, experience “positive emotions” and have individual personalities.
Fish have also been found to be individuals with complex personalities, according to research which showed that fish have a “simple spectrum” of reactions to danger.
