Journal
ANIMAL COGNITION
Volume 17, Issue 3, Pages 779-785Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s10071-013-0710-3
Keywords
Innovation; Learning; Cognitive ability; Tool use; Atlantic cod; Food acquisition
Categories
Funding
- Institute of Marine Research, Norway
- Research Council of Norway
- Commission of the European Communities, through Cost Action [867]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
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.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available