Smartest Fish?
- Thread starter aquaculture
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dolphins are mammals
I'm going to say barracuda. They are very smart. They lay in wait under fishing boats, and pick off hooked fish as you reel them in.
True story: Flatline fishing for king mackerel on fairly calm waters in the gulf a few years ago. My dad hooked up with a good sized king.
The fight was fairly normal and went well until the mackerel neared the boat. A very large cuda camped under the boat took the opportunity for an assisted meal. The mackerel saw it coming and absolutely went nuts trying to get away from him. The cuda went straight for the tail. He cut the flesh and broke the bone in one smooth rush. We were able to gaff the king up and out of the water before the cuda could finish him off (thanks to a well experienced deck hand). The cuda watched us as we pulled the fish into the boat. We examined the mackerel (turned out to be 37 lbs). He was a very healthy fish. The cuda would have had no chance of making a meal of of it if it were freely swimming, and quite a hard time with even a hooked mackerel of this size. So, he attempted to disable his swimming functions first!.. smart!
We continued fishing and hooked up with several red snapper and vermilion snapper. The cuda destroyed nearly every fish brought up until he was full. He left the head and a good portion of the body area, avoiding the hook.
Conclusion: Barracuda are extremely smart fish and opportunistic predators.
Edit: I'm not sure if they are the smartest fish proven by science, but from my experience, they are the smartest fish I have encountered.
True story: Flatline fishing for king mackerel on fairly calm waters in the gulf a few years ago. My dad hooked up with a good sized king.
The fight was fairly normal and went well until the mackerel neared the boat. A very large cuda camped under the boat took the opportunity for an assisted meal. The mackerel saw it coming and absolutely went nuts trying to get away from him. The cuda went straight for the tail. He cut the flesh and broke the bone in one smooth rush. We were able to gaff the king up and out of the water before the cuda could finish him off (thanks to a well experienced deck hand). The cuda watched us as we pulled the fish into the boat. We examined the mackerel (turned out to be 37 lbs). He was a very healthy fish. The cuda would have had no chance of making a meal of of it if it were freely swimming, and quite a hard time with even a hooked mackerel of this size. So, he attempted to disable his swimming functions first!.. smart!
We continued fishing and hooked up with several red snapper and vermilion snapper. The cuda destroyed nearly every fish brought up until he was full. He left the head and a good portion of the body area, avoiding the hook.
Conclusion: Barracuda are extremely smart fish and opportunistic predators.
Edit: I'm not sure if they are the smartest fish proven by science, but from my experience, they are the smartest fish I have encountered.
dont think that we will ever get an accurate answer on this topic. but in my opinion most cichlids are very intelligent. fish with long life spans should have the ability to learn more than guppies,mollies etc.
or a possible contender?
take the cuckoo catfish- lays its eggs in a cichlids nest and the cichlid takes care of them, any of us get free childminders?
or a possible contender?
take the cuckoo catfish- lays its eggs in a cichlids nest and the cichlid takes care of them, any of us get free childminders?