First published 2020 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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The rights of Jacques Bruslé and Jean-Pierre Quignard to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020930372
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-536-7
Fish, our distant cousins, are able to perform a considerable number of daily tasks to survive, having conquered all aquatic environments, in all climates and at all latitudes and depths.
They are the vertebrates most widely used by humans: fisheries exploit stocks of wild fish populations and carry out intensive fish farming, making fish, in number and mass, the most consumed of all vertebrates. They also occupy an important place in aquariology and are used as experimental models in scientific research (second only to mice). However, the general public’s perception remains limited, particularly with regard to their sensitivity, “well-being” and cognitive abilities. Contemporary ichthyologists have a fairly high level of scientific information that can shed new light on the actual behavioral potential of fish.
Observations of animal behavior have long focused on species that are familiar to us and considered worthy of interest, such as birds (parrots, titmice, swallows or wild geese) and, in particular, mammals, especially those to whom we are most closely related (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, etc.) or who live near us (horses) or in our homes (cats and dogs). The enthusiasm they inspire justifies the success of circuses and zoos. Fish, although they arouse a certain curiosity, especially among anglers and aquarists, rarely receive the attention they deserve, being reduced to the unflattering status of “inferior vertebrates”, beings who seem devoid of language, memory and apparent sensitivity. It is an unflattering and erroneous public perception, linked to the fact that we communicate little with them, separated as we are by such distinct natural environments.
Scientists, through observations and experiments published in credible international journals and from whom the authors of this book take their inspiration, bear witness to the surprising abilities of fish. Abilities that are not so far removed from those of other vertebrates, and even humans with similar characteristics because they are derived and inherited from these “fish ancestors”.
This book consists of two volumes that provide data of 630 species cited, originating from more than 1,500 bibliographical references. It provides new information on recent achievements in the field of ichthyology. These data reveal that our distant cousins are well endowed with cognitive abilities and a potential for memorization and innovation that explains their remarkable capacity to adapt to often difficult environments.
“Ordinary” fish are capable of doing extraordinary things. Some of them are not only great travelers able to orient themselves using the sun and navigate through terrestrial geomagnetism, but are also capable of adopting sophisticated behaviors. Some are subtle hunters or breeders who call upon collective strategies, clever architects and builders of complex nests designed to protect their eggs, courageous fighters willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their offspring and cooperative beings united with a shared goal or producing descendants. Some are even talented imitators anxious to perhaps deceive their partners or predators, Machiavellian strategists, clever courtiers, flamboyant seducers and great lovers. They also demonstrate memory and calculation skills, and the ability to play, use tools and even indulge in artistic creation. Finally, they can sometimes even be good models that can inspire advances in technology and human health.
Jacques BRUSLÉ
Jean-Pierre QUIGNARD
January 2020
Those of you who are interested in the natural world and are curious to better understand animal behavior, in all its capacity to surprise and be misunderstood, will probably be satisfied to be able, thanks to this book, to learn what fish really are. They deserve much better than their current, hardly flattering, status as “inferior vertebrates”.
Advancing knowledge in the field of fish ethology requires abundant scientific literature consisting of numerous publications in international journals that constantly provide new data to contribute to enriching our view of the behavior of these “conquerors of the aquatic world”, who are rich in their biodiversity and never cease to amaze us.
The authors of this book, academics who have devoted their careers to icthyological studies, have made extensive use of the most recent data in order to present a broad overview of the knowledge acquired in the field of behavior related to fish feeding, protection, social interrelationships and reproduction. This is based on the most representative and original examples cited among the 30,000 species currently listed, but only a few of them have given rise to field observations and laboratory experiments. Recent technological advances in human penetration of the underwater world (submarines, bathyscaphes, etc.) and in situ observation of fish (video cameras, acoustic markers, satellite telemetry, etc.), as well as laboratory data (samples, video images, etc.), have led to the development of new technologies. Those acquired through the use of advanced technologies applied to fish (radioactive isotopes, magnetic resonance, genetic sequencing, etc.) have greatly contributed to providing a modern perspective on their remarkable strategies and surprising behaviors.
The considerable progress made in the field of neurophysiology, as regards their sensory perception, communication, memory, innovation and so on, suggests that they are so sensitive to stress and pain that they deserve to be treated with more care than they usually are. Their need for “well-being” is as important as ours or that of our cats and dogs.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to all those who helped them by generously providing the original photos and figures to illustrate this book.