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Re:Begging displays
Rod Hanks wrote:
>......Therefore my question is directed those of you who have
>wild-caught fish. Do these fish beg with vigorous swimming
>displays?
>
I once had a little bluegill that I got as a baby, and it had one of the
most active begging display I have ever seen. It almost jumped out of the
tank every time I came in the room. I think begging displays are really
not that specialized, especially in fish that don't beg from their parents.
I think fish have good memories for the kinds of movements around their
tank that result in food coming in. They swarm to the place they remember
where the food came in before. They may also make a connection between
their own movements and getting food. They may associate all the vigorous
swimming at the side of the aquarium with food coming in.
In a textbook on birds, I have a picture of a female cardinal feeding three
or so hungry goldfish at the edge of a garden pool. Somehow the gaping of
the goldfish was interpreted by the cardinal as similar to the gaping of
her young. The fish quickly learned what got them food. They aren't dumb
when it comes to cause and effect relating to food. According to the
caption below the picture, the cardinal fed the fish insects on a regular
basis.
Paul Krombholz, in cool, but dry central Mississippi.