Afraid of its own Fishy Reflection
By Stephen Ornes
May 26, 2010
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100526/Note2.asp

Male cichlids are known for attacking other male cichlids to win the female or just to prove that they are stronger. Recently, it has been proven that male cichlids also attack their own reflection. This means that they don’t recognize themselves in the mirror. However, a recent study has shown that even though the two situations might look the same, we don’t know what is going on in the fish’s brain. Scientists have proven that the way a fish thinks when it attacks itself and how it thinks when it attacks another fish is different. We don’t seem to find a difference in how the fish acts when it sees its’ own reflection, or in the hormones- but we do see a difference in the fishes brain. However, we still don’t know what is going on inside the fish’s brain. A part of the brain called amygdala is usually used on the human brain when we show fear and other negative emotions. The same part is used in the fish’s brain. Therefore, the fish’s thoughts are a mystery to us.

I think that this article was really fascinating. I haven’t really heard anything about anyone not recognizing their own reflection in real life; only in fairy tales. It’s rather amazing that fish don’t realize that they are staring at themselves in the mirror and end up attacking themselves. After all, if we weren’t familiar with mirrors and saw our own reflection for the first time we would probably be scared and use the part in our brain called amygdala too. Since fish live in the water they probably have never seen a visual of themselves, maybe just vague reflections in metal scraps at the bottom lakes or the sea. For seeing their reflection for the first time they have good reason to use amygdala and to be fear-struck! Another thing that I thought of while reading this article was that fish actually don’t know how they looks like, so maybe they knew it was themselves they were staring at and their physical form scared them. Normally, when a fish gets scared it either hides or attacks. Maybe that was the reason for the attacking and for the hormones and actions being the same as a normal attack- but for the brain to think of it differently!