Question: Is it true that fish have like half a second memory?

Bridget Waller answered on 24 Jun 2010:

Memory is quite hard to test in other animals, so it is difficult to give a straight yes or no answer. There are different types of memory, and so they might have some types of short term memory (or ‘working’ memory as we sometimes call it) that are much shorter than ours, but they might have other types of ‘learning’ memory that can last a lifetime. So a fish might be able to remember where it needs to go to lay eggs (think about salmon travelling long distances to spawn!), but might not be able to hide a food item and return to it 10 seconds later. It all depends on how evolution has equipped the species with the skills it needs to get on with its job of survival and reproduction.