I believe they have personalities or at least different personality traits.

I choose to believe "they're just dumb fish" or I would have to be a vegetarian. Yes, they might have 'personalities' and yes, I have 2 aquariums and a pond, but....I like to eat fish, they're quite tasty.

It's a conundrum.

I don't know about all fish, but I know mine definately do.

Having a personality or not is not a sign of how smart they are. Koi tend to have more of a personality then goldfish. I have a koi that when it was small about 8 inches would play with me all day long if I had the time. I would put my hand in the water and it would swim into my hand. I would lift it out of the water and it would jump out of my hand and back into the water. I would my hand back into the water and it would swim back into the hand and wait to be lifted out of the water. He did this all summer until he grew out of it. I had another koi that anytime that I walked by the pond he would splash me with his tail. He would keep doing this until I paid attention to him. Then I have a koi that anytime the lid is off the skimmer will swim into the skimmer to get any food that might get in there. Once he has gotten all the food he will jump out of the skimmer and back into the pond. Yet if the lid is on the skimmer he never goes into it. Are they dumb? Maybe or maybe not. I heard a couple of weeks ago that the smartest computer made has the brain power of a cricket. That makes computes very dumb or crickets very smart.
Mike

Yeah... I'm starting to think that a couple of mine are getting to know me. Sounds silly I guess but they actually swim up to the top when I go to one particular spot. When my 5 year old daughter comes, they swim away. Go figure???

Even fish, knows who feeds them

I observed what seemed to be personalities in aquarium fish more than 30 years ago and I have seen evidence since then that at least some if not all fish have behaviors that seem to be personal to that fish. We had a cat fish that enforced polite behavior on the community tank and an Oscar that played dead when someone new came into the room. Some of it is likely to be innate such as the surprising aggressiveness of gourami toward full grown comets and large koi or the timidity of mosquito fish and guppies.
Maybe it is just imagination but I like the personable fishies the best.

I remember an old thread in which a topic very similiar was debated. A poster gave us scientific evidence that it was impossible for fish to be little more then eating, spawning and pooping machines. lol

I too have observed my fish to have personalities. A few years back my two bigger Koi used to swim over and "hide" an injured Koi when I stood over the pond. When she recovered they stopped doing that. So I know they are aware and I believe care about each other. My smallest Koi is so fiesty and brave. She is the ringleader and the other two follow her lead as she comes to me begging for treats. I found Mike's story about his childhood Koi very endearing. It's great to be among "fish" people here on this forum.

Thanks for all the info, opinions and stories. I'm really hoping to develop a 'relationship' with my little fishies. :)

They are friendly and smart. Can be taught to do tricks,
and have very good memories, despite what some say --
that they have a very short memory, that is absolutely
not true.

Joann

Some exhibit more personality traits than others....They certainly will learn who feeds them and congregate where you do it.

When I had aquariums, Bettas and Angelfish always were more personable than guppies and swordfish for example.

I think they not only personalities but they also develope attitudes. All of the 13 koi in our pond have names thanks to the grandkids and act like children themselves. Some are shy, some are outgoing. My wife thinks that if anyone has been trained to react then the fish have done a good job of training me. When I am in the pond working plants it is nothing to feel a nudge from a 24" koi like they want to play or feel left out. They do recognize family members and come right up but hide out when a stranger is near.

Update on my fishies personalties....
There is definately one of the comets that comes to the surface everytime I go outside. A couple of the others sort of follow that one. Tonight I had 5 of them waiting for food. The two koi are still really shy but are starting to come out from under the plant that they always hide under. The two of the really stick together too. I am noticing too that they have grown. We've only had the koi for about 3 weeks but they already seem bigger.

i agree, joann. they have to have some sort of memory. after 3 months of freezing at the bottom of the pond, spring warms it up and they immediately know where to go to eat, who i am (they avoid others), etc.

mine have very different personalities and traits

If anyone knows about pond fish it is Joann!!!! She has the most amazing pond and fish. Nice to see a post from you again!
Anne

Hi Anne, I haven't been able to post much for almost a year
now, due to some health issues, but that's behind me now.
I'll be shooting some video's of the kids soon...
It's been raining all week, I'm waiting for a nice day
for my first shoot of the 2011 season.

Lori Carlos, if our koi could breath out of water, they would be waiting by my back door each morning, really!