Innovative behaviour in fish: Atlantic cod can learn to use an external tag to manipulate a self-feeder
This study describes how three individual fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), developed a novel behaviour and learnt to use a dorsally attached external tag to activate a self-feeder. This behaviour was repeated up to several hundred times, and over time these fish fine-tuned the behaviour and mad...
Published in: | Animal Cognition |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Springer Heidelberg
2014
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00171/28217/26513.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0710-3 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00171/28217/ |
Summary: | This study describes how three individual fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), developed a novel behaviour and learnt to use a dorsally attached external tag to activate a self-feeder. This behaviour was repeated up to several hundred times, and over time these fish fine-tuned the behaviour and made a series of goal-directed coordinated movements needed to attach the feeder’s pull string to the tag and stretch the string until the feeder was activated. These observations demonstrate a capacity in cod to develop a novel behaviour utilizing an attached tag as a tool to achieve a goal. This may be seen as one of the very few observed examples of innovation and tool use in fish. |
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