by Scientists of a Mediterranean research station have found that some wild fish can distinguish people who recognize certain divers and goals they had previously fed.
The study published in the Journal Biology Letters on Tuesday showed that some wild fish can use visual information to identify certain people, even if their faces are covered by diving equipment.
Previous laboratory studies have shown that prisoners can recognize fish such as bow programs of human faces in controlled environments.
However, there is hardly any evidence that wild fish could do the same, explores from the German Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior (MPI-AB).
In order to test this, scientists carried out a number of experiments at a research location eight meters below water in the Mediterranean, where wild fish are used to divers.
In the first phase of the experiments, the study co-author Katinka Soller tried to attract the attention of local fish by wearing a bright red vest and feeding fish as they sponged a length of 50 m.
Gradually she removed the vest and wore simple diving equipment, kept the food hidden and fed fishing only after she followed the full 50 m.
According to scientists, the fish were “willing volunteers” in the study that came and went as they were happy.
Two types of Seebroma were particularly ready to get involved, they said.
After 12 days of training, 20 fish followed Mrs. Soller, who could see several of the fish from their physical properties.
“Bernie was on her back with two shiny silver dandruff and Alfie, who had a nip out of the tail fin,” she said.
In the next experimental phase, the researchers tested whether the same fish Soller could take off from another diver, the senior author Maëlan Tomasek.
Dr. Tomasek’s diving equipment differed in some colorful parts of the neoprene suit and the fins, researchers said.
This time the divers started at the same point and then swam in different directions, but Dr. Tomasek never fed the fish that followed him.
The scientists were surprised that the fish, while the fish followed equally on the first day, the number of fish according to Ms. Soller from the second day has increased significantly.
The researchers then focused on six fish from the large group to examine individually and found that they showed “strong positive learning curves”.
The results indicate that the fish of both divers were aware of and tested everyone to find out that Katinka produced the reward at the end of swimming.
When scientists repeated the experiment with identical diving equipment, the fish could not distinguish them, they say.
Based on this observation, the researchers suspect that the fish differences in diving equipment – most likely the color trains – have associated with every diver.
“Almost all of the fish have colored views, so it is not surprising that the Seebrasse has learned to combine the right diver based on color spots on the body,” said Dr. Tomasek.
“We have already observed that they approached our faces and examine our bodies. It was like studying us, not the other way around, ”said Ms. Soller.
