A popular saying is that a person or group has the memory of a goldfish because there has been a popular belief that the adorable aquarium fish remember only three seconds into the past.

Despite this, a 15-year-old school student in Adelaide conducted a rather simple experiment that completely debunked this belief and proved that goldfish have a longer memory than perceived wisdom would often have you believe.

In fact, goldfish are actually rather intelligent creatures.

 

The Experiment

The experiment used a small tank of goldfish, aquarium fish food and a red lego brick.

The student would put the red brick into the tank and then sprinkle the goldfish flakes around the brick.

Initially, the fish were scared by the red brick sinking to the bottom of the tank, but eventually, there was a connection made between the brick and feeding time.

After doing this for three weeks and noticing that the fish were gravitating towards the brick before the food was even sprinkled in.

This proved that goldfish could recognise patterns, but to prove they had a longer memory than three seconds the student went further and stopped using the brick for a week when he fed the fish.

Seven days later, he dropped the brick into the take and the fish recognised it and swarmed around it, expecting food.

This inspired other researchers to try similar experiments. Researchers played a particular sound during feeding time to young goldfish before releasing them into the ocean. Six months later they played the sound in the ocean and the goldfish headed to the source of the sound.

So, rather than three seconds, goldfish have a memory of at least six months, and likely significantly longer than that.

 

As Smart As A Goldfish

Whilst experiments are helpful to quantify the intelligence of fish, they often are not needed to see that they have a strong ability to learn and process information.

A biologist at the University of Edinburgh, Culum Brown, went as far as to claim that fish have greater cognitive acumen in some respects than even nonhuman primates.

If you own an aquarium and regularly maintain and feed fish, chances are high that your fish recognise not only that you are a human but also that you are the one that regularly feeds them and they feel increasingly comfortable in your presence.

Because goldfish are clearly and obviously timid, a behaviour that many new fish owners can attest to, this trend is very easily spotted if you regularly feed and take care of a tank.

Their behaviour is significantly influenced by their owners, and goldfish have been shown to swim through mazes, hoops and even push balls into a net.

They also have strong spatial memories, which allow them to navigate complex aquatic environments. A great way to keep fish active is to ensure that your tank is as complicated and intricate as possible so they can interact more with their environment.

This can help to increase their lifespan, as they will remain more active than fish in simpler tanks, as well as creating an aquatic environment that resembles their natural environment more accurately.