Goldfish (Carassius auratus) are popular with their orange hues and terrible memory. Fish keepers probably have heard this myth before, and many people even believe it without scientific proof.
Culum Brown, an expert in fish cognition at Macquarie University in Australia, told Live Science that it is baffling that the myth seems to be the same anywhere in the world. Although in some places, it is 2 seconds, while others say it is 10 seconds. But does their memory last for 3 seconds?
Debunking the Myth: Goldfish Have Much Longer Memories
The myth that goldfish memory can only last for 3 seconds is as big a myth as the Lost City of Atlantis. Scientists have been proving for more than 60 years that goldfish have good memories and are also considered more intelligent than many fish in the ocean.
Brown said that scientists had known since the 50s and 60s that goldfish have much longer memories than just 3 seconds. Even he studied the intelligence of goldfish and believes that the misconception may have come from ignorance about fish intelligence and guilt because pet owners usually keep them in small, boring tanks.
In reality, goldfish have impressive memories and are often used as animal models for studying memory and learning in fishes. Thousands of studies on these creatures prove their excellent memories, and the rate at which they are published is growing exponentially.
For example, Good News Network reported that researchers from Oxford University trained a school of goldfish to measure distances. They released the fish in a long, thin tank with black and white vertical stripes. After some time, they observed that the goldfish had learned and remembered how far to swim down the tank before going back to the starting point for a treat.
The study demonstrates that goldfish can navigate mazes, escape nets, and be prompted to complete tasks using different stimuli. Brown noted that the goldfish could perform the same task after several months of not doing them.
Some pet owners report that their fish can recognize them from other people, which is also supported by previous studies. Perhaps it is time for the public to change their perception of goldfish and see them as pretty smart fish that deserves more respect.
Why Understanding Goldfish Memory is Important
Many think knowing how long a goldfish could store memory is insignificant and useless. However, an article in the Goldfish Tank says that the ability to train fish could have significant implications for fish farming.
Fish keepers could train fish to respond to sound instead of using cages, hiring staff, and feeding them. In that way, they could release the fish to wildlife and display a sound to call them back to be harvested.
Usually, laboratory experiments involve mammals and insects to understand biology. But studies on goldfish also have provided scientists with new insights about fish biology that can be useful in other fields.
According to the American Museum of Natural History, the fish brain cannot create a cognitive map because they lack the cortex and hippocampus responsible for storing memory, unlike rats and humans.
But scientists found that fish use spatial cognition by relying on allocentric cues to navigate, and they have a brain structure analogous to the human brain's hippocampus. These findings suggest that fish have a higher level of functioning than is commonly believed.
Most importantly, research on goldfish memory would rewrite their biology in textbooks and recognize that goldfish have a higher-functioning brain, particularly in spatial cognition.
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