Do fish have feelings?

[lilmermaid]

My boyfriend and i were discussing if fish have feelings. He says they don't and that they act on impulse, and instinct. I feel that the do have some level of intelligence. I don't however believe they have logic. I was just wondering if anyone on here has seen any activities to prove they might feel , sad , happy, jealousy, fear..ect. Maybe it differs in species of fish, like guppies compared to oscars. oscars are obviously more intelligent. Let me know what you think.
:idea:

 

[theotheragentm]

I think fish have some level of intelligence to learn beyond instinct. I was watching Mythbusters and they taught goldfish to associate color with food. They had holes in dividers that were marked with color. The fish were able to go through these holes without hesitation to get to food.

Whether they have feelings as in emotion, I don't believe they do. Fear is an emotion, but I believe they work more on instinct. That's what schooling and feeding is based on, and as you know fish can eat themselves to death. Not smart, but when you don't know when the next meal is coming, you eat everything you can eat. I don't think fish get lonely like humans. I think they naturally have some instincts that are based on group dynamics that don't work out when they're alone.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

no idea. i know they are smarter then some people think. some people think fish have no memory but why do they always go to the same spot i feed them?

 

[---MR.CLEAN---]

the longer I keep a fish the more human friendly it gets except for some species like my black long finned skirt tetras and plecos are scared of everything but for example Dojos, jack D, guppys are very human friendly

 

[A. Nonymous]

I think some species of fish are smarter than others, but I wouldn't call them highly intelligent. They quickly discover where the food is, but that's a basic biological response. Any creature that can't figure out where the easy source of food is dies very quickly.

 

[cubequeen]

I don't know about feelings, but I think they have some capacity to learn. I use two small champagne glasses as feeding stations in my tank, and the fish have learned to go there to look for food.

 

[vtx-coley]

Pavlov's fish?

 

[pcnicholson]

Feelings? Probably not. But I can tell you from watching some of my fish, especially dwarf puffers that "some" fish are very intelligent. Others, like my dumblebee (bumblebee) gobies, I wonder how they possibly exist in the wild.

 

[JamieB]

YES! They do have feelings. It was written about 2 months ago in the New York times about a study to determine whether fish and other aquatic animals had feelings,and the study results did conclude they do! So do not talk down to your fish or talk behind their backs! Fish have feelings!

 

[lferg]

Feelings? Probably not. But I can tell you from watching some of my fish, especially dwarf puffers that "some" fish are very intelligent. Others, like my dumblebee (bumblebee) gobies, I wonder how they possibly exist in the wild.

I would have to agree. My puffers are by far the smartest fish I have ever kept. They have great personalities and they have learned to tell the difference between who enters the room! They will not pay attention to my wife or child, but if I enter the room they are up at the front of the tank watching everything going on.