Can Hewbie hear me? Yes he can!

[kchristensen8064]

I have never tried to pet my Naso tang, but that is how he is! Anywhere I am looking up close in the tank, here he comes front and center of my view! IT's like he is saying " hey, look at me!

Yep, he's definitely an attention wh°re. You want to look at that new coral you just put in your tank, nope you have to look at him, nothing else. Haha

 

[Fish Fan]

I had an Oscar fish for maybe ~15+ years. Raised it from the size of a thumbnail. It was like a house cat or dog. Liked to be petted, hand fed and spent time on whatever side of tank I was on... followed me around.

It recognized specific people and would get extremely excited for me, my father, etc. Different behavior for each person to an extent. It would splash water out for my father (he regularly fed it night crawlers). I was away at college and my father nursed it back to health when it got extremely sick. He spent days moving it through the water and keeping it in front of the power head in hopes of keeping it breathing and feeding it with a syringe. Mind you it was the size of a shoebox by that time. My mother said he barely slept for days and spent a fortune on meds to make sure Oscar pulled through.

I had a friend that it disliked and would jump to bite every time he put his hand above the tank. It also hated plastic plants, it would destroy them. The silky ones were fine, just not plastic.

Oscar also had a huge pleco and weather loach friends for close to 10 of those years, but they had to be moved out at some point because Oscar decided that they were no longer friends.

Oscar was also fond of watching the red belly piranhas in the neighboring tank - and all in, i think oscar was more efficient at dispatching crayfish and minos... One gulp, no bloodbath.

I had a pair of Oscars a few years back that were just like this. Underwater dogs, much like Puffers lol!

Maybe A dog clicker at feeding time ? LOL

I believe that's how they train marine mammals. Certainly, marine mammals are not a fish or a dog, but clicker training may be effective for a wide range of animals.

 

[drbrivers]

I discovered something today. I can call Hewbie’s name and he comes right up to me he will be on the opposite end of the bin and unable to see me and when I call him he comes excitedly swimming over and pokes his little head out of the water. This is something I never truly thought about but realized today. Fish do in fact have ear canals and can hear and there have been multiple studies of them responding to music and how they can hear different frequencies. And it just occured to me Hewbie is probably aware of what his name is and literally comes when called responding to my voice. I have tested this theory out a few times and every time I’m in the room where he can’t see me I call him and he swims really fast towards me. Fish and especially Hewbie are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

Years ago I was an undergrad student in a marine bio lab and one of the PhD students there was tasked for his thesis to discover if sharks had a sense of hearing and define its range. It was thought that sharks did not have much of a sense of hearing in the scientific community but it was subsequently found that the native Hawaiians had a ceremony that would include calling sharks to their outriggers by striking coconuts together underwater. Long story short - sharks indeed have a good sense of hearing underwater. So not surprising Hewbie does too.

 

[jrill]

Ì don't believe its hearing as we understand it. More to do with vibration and frequency.

 

[jabberwock]

Interesting thread. Hewbie is great!

As humans, we have a hard time understanding life that does not adhere to human concepts. "Hearing" for a fish could really be about other forms of perception like the lateral line, or in sharks the ampullae of Lorenzini. Does Hewbie react to your vocalizations? It sure seems like it. Can he hear you? Maybe, but probably not as far as you and I comprehend hearing in a human ear outside of the water. Sound waves obviously travel through water, but how they are received by non-human organisms is variable and may or may not be classified as "hearing" in the way that we understand it. Maybe his spines are the sensory organ receiving the sound waves?

Studies describe how whitetail deer "see" based on the number of rods and cones in the retina. The camouflage hunting clothing industry makes huge amounts of money every year. I don't think it works on deer at all. I think you could wear the brightest loudest clothes you could find, and a deer won't see you until you move. I have studied on this for 40 years.

I think it is great that you and Hewbie have an interactive relationship. My Carpenter's Wrasse and Yellow Clown Goby are also big attention hogs. They obviously know I am looking, and I enjoy their attention as well!

 

[jabberwock]

Ì don't believe its hearing as we understand it. More to do with vibration and frequency.

Beat me to it.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Ì don't believe its hearing as we understand it. More to do with vibration and frequency.

hearing is organ based. Skin is an organ, as well as an ear, and there are other non ear type organs that pick up vibration, just as organs other than traditional eyes can “see”, the pits on a viper for example. FWIW snakes have no outer ear, but do have hearing structures…

 

[AydenLincoln]

Ì don't believe its hearing as we understand it. More to do with vibration and frequency.

They actually can hear! https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/2023/10/06/how-do-fish-hear/ They just don’t have ears like us though.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Some more info! https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7051002/#:~:text=Fishes obtain substantial information about,use sound for habitat selection. If Hewbie couldn’t hear me or wasn’t paying attention then he wouldn’t be swimming towards my voice time and time again. And oh have I mentioned that fish have the ability to distinguish faces and recognize their owners even among a group of people? Hewbie most definitely does! And this isn’t just me being bias he really does recognize me. I had a stranger over the other day and he paid no attention to him and swam right over to me. And the person goes, “OMG! HE KNOWS YOU!” Yes he does.

 

[AydenLincoln]

hearing is organ based. Skin is an organ, as well as an ear, and there are other non ear type organs that pick up vibration, just as organs other than traditional eyes can “see”, the pits on a viper for example. FWIW snakes have no outer ear, but do have hearing structures…

Yes exactly that!

 

[jrill]

They actually can hear! https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/2023/10/06/how-do-fish-hear/ They just don’t have ears like us though.

I think you still misinterpreting hearing words and understanding them. Fish don't do that but they do pick up vibrations which can be called hearing if you like. As much as people like to try and make them out to be fish are not like people or puppies. I am probably not expressing it well but this link does a better job of it.

How do Fish Hear?

Fish hear, but not like humans do. Their hearing adaptations depend on how they reside in their respective habitats: coral reefs, bottom feeders, etc.

ocr.org

 

[jrill]

hearing is organ based. Skin is an organ, as well as an ear, and there are other non ear type organs that pick up vibration, just as organs other than traditional eyes can “see”, the pits on a viper for example. FWIW snakes have no outer ear, but do have hearing structures…

Yes that's true and I understand that. You can call picking up and utilizing vibrations as hearing but folks like to think fish can hear the words and understand them.

 

[Reefering1]

Hearing IS the ability to sense these vibrations(sounds) , as we do. How they are perceived is a much more complex question. Ie. If you speak and a animal responds- then the animal heard you.

 

[Fish Fan]

Yes that's true and I understand that. You can call picking up and utilizing vibrations as hearing but folks like to think fish can hear the words and understand them.

As far as "understanding", that has much more to do with our brain and nervous system than our ears.

Our ears are just a sensor, our brains do the heavy lifting.

Sound waves are produced, and when an animal can sense and react to them, that's hearing, even if it's rudimentary.

My dog can clearly "hear" me, and even reacts to my voice. I don't beleive (unlike my wife) that dogs speak English, and "understand" what we are telling them.

My cats can hear me too, yet they have little to no reaction to what we tell them. Does that mean they can't hear?

 

[jrill]

As far as "understanding", that has much more to do with our brain and nervous system that our ears.

Our ears are just a sensor, our brains do the heavy lifting.

Sound waves are produced, and when animal can sense and react to them, that's hearing, even if it's rudimentary.

My dog can clearly "hear" me, and even reacts to my voice. I don't beleive (unlike my wife) that dogs speak English, and "understand" what we are telling them.

My cats can hear me too, yet they have little to no reaction to what we tell them. Does that mean they can't hear?

Okey dokey.

 

[jrill]

As far as "understanding", that has much more to do with our brain and nervous system that our ears.

Our ears are just a sensor, our brains do the heavy lifting.

Sound waves are produced, and when an animal can sense and react to them, that's hearing, even if it's rudimentary.

My dog can clearly "hear" me, and even reacts to my voice. I don't beleive (unlike my wife) that dogs speak English, and "understand" what we are telling them.

My cats can hear me too, yet they have little to no reaction to what we tell them. Does that mean they can't hear?

Not at all. Of course dogs and cats can hear. and fish can sense the vibrations and we can call it hearing. But if we say the word Jack the fish does not hear jack but picks up or "hears" the vibration.

 

[Fish Fan]

Not at all. Of course dogs and cats can hear. and fish can sense the vibrations and we can call it hearing. But if we say the word Jack the fish does not hear jack but picks up or "hears" the vibration.

Yes, but our ears don't know "Jack" lol! Our brain is what can unpack and process what we are hearing.

But if sound reaches an animal, and that animal can sense and react to it, that's hearing. It's just rudimentary vs. advanced.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I think you still misinterpreting hearing words and understanding them. Fish don't do that but they do pick up vibrations which can be called hearing if you like.

I am not misinterpreting. I don't care what the actual mechanism is for processing. Different organs provide "hearing" allowing the animal to interpret what it "hears", the same with "sight". It provides some type of stimulus for their brain to interpret and or identify. The precise level of identification and processing or associated cognitive processes will differ from creature to creature, some being logical or learned and others being purely instinct driven. No matter. Maybe the fish can tell you and your sister apart by different vibrations or can tell the difference between your voice and your sisters, maybe not. No need to head down the rabbit hole and argue about the details. They can process sounds, so can we, so can most other creatures. If we want to be pedantic and call them all "vibrations" -- great!

As much as people like to try and make them out to be fish are not like people or puppies.

They are creatures that respond to stimulus, positive and negative. Different creatures have different levels of processing and "feeling" -- how we interpret their responses is typically wrong and aligned with OUR responses to the stimulus that we understand. I don't think anybody is arguing any differently. I don't think the OP is trying to say that Hewbie loves her and can't wait to watch dancing with the the stars to see this weeks winner... I think she is saying that she feels a connection with the fish based on its responses (for whatever underlying reason) to her stimulus. Hewbie could be dumber than the rocks he swims around and his only thought being that he needs to poop soon.. .that does not make the connection between the OP and the owner any less relevant.

Just wait until people fall in love with their AIs - then we can have a real conversation about what is real processing and what is not

Have a wonderful day!

 

[Fish Fan]

how we interpret their responses is typically wrong and aligned with OUR responses to the stimulus that we understand.

^This! We need to stop framing everything around us from the "human" point of view, and maybe even concede that humans do not have "the best" hearing, vision, or anything else, except possibly that brain of ours, and even that's debatable.

 

[DaJMasta]

Have you tested by saying his name not facing the tank or playing back a recording (and video to see his reaction?)

I have no doubt our fish can and do recognize us, and as individuals, but I have my doubts they can hear something at normal voice level because the pumps we generally use make enough noise to down it out (they certainly do in my tank). I wonder if the recognition would still happen with your physical absence just at the sound of your voice (a pretty good confirmation it's sound they're recognizing) or if it may just be recognizing you by look.