# Intelligence of bettas



## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Do you think betta's are smart or not? I think they are intelligent. For example, Pepsi first started to jump for food, and now Bambi is jumping for food.


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## lelei (Apr 30, 2012)

_Omg, Yes, they are very smart..It's amazing that these fish can literally be trained..to watch your every move, and almost imitate you,..*they know their names, they come when called*..try that with any other fish..I doubt they will even look at you..lol..they jump for food,, _

_recognize another fish by picture, and video..just by watching things they seem to take in everything and work with it,, if you move a plant in thier tank, they immediately take notice..I am so amazed by what they can figure out, and what they learn!!! I love Betta's!!!_


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I know, Romeo who I am sure is hurting because he bit his tail, is starting to come to the front to meet me.


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## lelei (Apr 30, 2012)

_They certainly learn fast too, let me tell you my rescue, Sapphire, already knows his name, and responds like a dog, and when i call him he comes right out..regardless of getting food or not, and he is already taking food from my finger, and I only had him for 3 weeks..and he was so sick just 10 days ago, so much so I thought I was gonna lose him, and now looking at him every day..and gettin him used to us, the way I did with Sammy..It's soo cool, and I am like astonished that he is so talented!!! _
_Aww..I hope your lil Romeo..(love the name) gets better soon_


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

People think betta's are just stupid little fish. Makes me sad. Platies are intelligent too


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

They are VERY intelligent, no doubt about that


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Eh, I don't want to burst bubbles but... they're not that smart. For their size, yes. But they are not super intelligent. 

They come to the tank front because they see you as a food source. It's all about association of you and food. They do have personalities but not to the extent of higher intelligence animals. They do not have human emotion.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

They recognize us as a food source, that's intelligent.  But really, I know they aren't super smart like cats and dogs


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Most fish will recognize their handler as a food source. I've never had a fish that didn't. Even the tetra. Don't get me wrong; fish are a lot more intelligent than most people give them credit, but they are far from Eisensteins.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

thekoimaiden said:


> Most fish will recognize their handler as a food source. I've never had a fish that didn't. Even the tetra. Don't get me wrong; fish are a lot more intelligent than most people give them credit, but they are far from Eisensteins.


Exactly. They're much smarter than the mainstream thought but again no where near higher intelligence. 

Suddenly, betta overlords....


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I swear, Pepsi wants to rule the world. :lol:


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

MrVampire181 said:


> Eh, I don't want to burst bubbles but... they're not that smart. For their size, yes. But they are not super intelligent.
> 
> They come to the tank front because they see you as a food source. It's all about association of you and food. They do have personalities but not to the extent of higher intelligence animals. They do not have human emotion.


That is true , but i think they have some emotion because when they see a bloodworm........you know that look


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## bettalover2033 (Feb 17, 2010)

Actually not even then. They have no emotions. The have the constant thought of when their next meal is going to be not WHAT it will be, it's also why many fish don't stop eating and a lot die from overfeeding. Their natural instincts kick in and they want to take in as much as possible to be 'full' for a while so they can be less likely to starve to death.

Yes they love bloodworms, but they can't tell the difference until its in their mouth. Yes they are smart enough to put two and two together as you are the thing that makes the food present.

Also they don't 'come to their name'. If anything, they feel the vibrationsIn the water and enough times that food comes shortly after is what they are responding to.



MyRainbowBettaFish said:


> That is true , but i think they have some emotion because when they see a bloodworm........you know that look


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yea, betta definitely aren't smarter than other fish. 
The only thing for me that would make them seem smarter is that they associate me with food. My cories certainly don't, and the threadfin's a microfeeder so I don't really feed him either. They're all pretty shy of me compared to the betta, that's for sure.
All fish have a "personality," that's why they act different. It's easier to see it in a betta because it's one fish. You can't really look at a school of fish and get to know this one' a pig and that one's mean, because they all look the same. Every fish reacts slightly differently to a situation, just no one wants to sit down and get to know each of their danios of what have you. Fish have "norms," most female betta do fine in a sorority, or a group of angel fish will attack any new angels added to the tank. Sometimes this isn't true. No one knows why. Could be just Darwin- diversity is needed in a group to ensure survival.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Definitly smarter then people give them credit for, but they really only see us as a food source.

On the other hand Oscars are pretty intelligent, they can learn to recognize a specific person and learn to roll over for food and some even accept and enjoy being pet. A oscars personality really shines through even though their still food motivated


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Heh. My friend's discus follow him around the room as best as they can. It's cute to see a rainbow of huge fish following someone.
I read the world's oldest koi will come when it's owner calls, even from the other side of the pond. And only for the owner, it sticks it's head out of the water to be pet.
And at some theme park where you could feed these big brown carp, they'd literally stick their heads out and hold their mouths open to have food thrown in. Of course, none of this can be called intelligence for sure. Fish have very.. Bad.. Nervous systems, and the nervous system is connected to the brain.
But then again, what is our species to judge intelligence? :lol:
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## bettalover2033 (Feb 17, 2010)

I can definitely agree with you! Oscars can also be solitary fish. I've seen a lot of really smart oscars even though their drive really is mostly from food.



copperarabian said:


> Definitly smarter then people give them credit for, but they really only see us as a food source.
> 
> On the other hand Oscars are pretty intelligent, they can learn to recognize a specific person and learn to roll over for food and some even accept and enjoy being pet. A oscars personality really shines through even though their still food motivated


_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

I think there is a difference between what we define as intelligence and what we define as emotions. Intelligence gives a being means to interact with the world in a way that lets one survive. Emotion is what a being feels internally and psychologically. I think bettas have both intelligence and emotion, but in no way are they equivalent to human beings. They have their own ways of expressing themselves, just as we do. It's not that they are dumb, it's just the way their brains work. They have their world, and we have ours. It's like that for all organisms.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Olympia said:


> All fish have a "personality," that's why they act different. It's easier to see it in a betta because it's one fish. You can't really look at a school of fish and get to know this one' a pig and that one's mean, because they all look the same. Every fish reacts slightly differently to a situation, just no one wants to sit down and get to know each of their danios of what have you. Fish have "norms," most female betta do fine in a sorority, or a group of angel fish will attack any new angels added to the tank. Sometimes this isn't true. No one knows why. Could be just Darwin- diversity is needed in a group to ensure survival.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


You're very right about that. It's been scientifically documented that fish have "personalities" Well it's more like fish that are more shy versus fish that are more outgoing. As you said, diversity is key to survival and there are times where a more sedate fish has advantages over an adventurous one. 

But fish do not have emotions. I'm sorry. The brain capacity just isn't there. That part of their brain isn't developed enough. There are even some scientists who don't believe they can experience pain.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Fish do have very simple nervous systems. I have to agree that they feel little pain, as far as we know.. I read a convincing article on PFK about it a while back.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

I believe the evidence supports that fish can feel pain, but it's certainly not a unanimous decision. But part of me has to wonder if the scientists who hold that fish don't feel pain are avid catch-and-release fisherman. That way they can justify jabbing a hook through the fish's mouth without feeling guilty.


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## laoshun (Apr 3, 2012)

my sorority girl put all grudges aside and huddle together when they see me. They are so into their food. I have to watch them from a distance to see how they really act.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Even though I don't think they feel pain, doesn't mean we should treat them bad. I do think there is some feeling, but not as intense as in animals with more complex nervous systems.
In psych we did learn about these people, they were basically paralyzed, for years people thought they had no thoughts or anything, turns out they did. So that's why I think we should always treat everyone nicely. 
Postencephalitic parkinsonism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

If they didn't feel pain, they wouldn't dash themselves on rocks to be rid of ich and other irritating parasites.. would they? 

I had someone explain to me a while ago that fish have a line along the sides of their bodies that is an incredible sort of sensory organ, they use this to detect vibrations in the water (sound, motion) as well as temperature differences.. I found this interesting, must read more on it. 

My brother in law had a trigger fish in his room that was his 'best buddy' for years, it was so tame it would swim into his hand (this is not a small fish, lol) and rest there for its checkups. That fish definitely reacted to his voice in a way it did not for others. 

I don't know about 'smart' but being predatory + highly food motivated makes for easy training. And I do see major individuality in temperament, behaviour among all my bettas.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

What you are talking about Aus is the lateral line. It is an amazing organ; I studied it in detail in ichthyology. Fish use it for all kinds of things from electroreception to hearing to sensing water movement. It's really a fishy "6th sense"! If you can stop by a local college library, they might have some ichthyology books that would have more on it.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I would love to take ichthyology


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