Clever fish caught on camera

Fish have joined the list of species that have been filmed using tools.

Researcher Giacomo Bernardi captured the orange-dotted tuskfish digging a clam out of the sand, then carrying it over to a rock. The brainy fish then repeatedly bashed the clam against the rock in an attempt to break the shell and have a tasty snack.

Although this kind of behaviour is pretty basic for humans, it is quite an advanced thing for a fish to do.

“It requires a lot of forward thinking, because there are a number of steps involved,” says Bernardi. “For a fish, it’s a pretty big deal.”

Bernardi says that he first heard of a fish doing something similar in 1994. It has been reported several times since then, but never caught on video.

All of the fish species that have been seen using a rock as an anvil are types of wrasse. Bernardi now wants to find out if all wrasse are capable of the trick and if they have any other ways of using tools.

See the brainiac fish in the video below!

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