What Did the Fish Say to the Bartender?

Written by PETA

wallpaperbase / CC
Fish
This isn't the first time we've heard it, but it's getting ever-better. According to a recent article in Science, fish can talk. At least one species (midshipman) and a close relative (toadfish) grunt, growl, and hum to communicate with one another, with different sounds to show aggression or lure a mate.

According to researchers, this shows that fish are more similar to us than many folks would suspect. "[T]he sophisticated neural circuitry that midshipman [fish] use to vocalize develops in a similar region of the central nervous system as the circuitry that allows a human to laugh or a frog to croak …," according to the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where research was conducted.

One researcher at MBL—named, I promise, Dr. Bass—believes that vocal communication is probably widespread among our finned friends. It may even give insight as to how fish have evolved.

Take note that this isn't an isolated bit of research—a great deal of time has been dedicated to investigating methods of animal communication. Each new study verifies more and more what many of us have suspected for years: Humans and other animals aren't all that different.

Posted by Sean Conner

Recent Comments
Post a Comment
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • * Required field(s).

By submitting this form, you are agreeing to our collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal info in accordance with our privacy policy as well as to receiving e-mails from us.

REPORT CRUELTY

If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2. 

PETA Tweets

Follow PETA on Twitter!

Chicken Photo: © Rommel Manuel