Goldfish Memory

Hi! My name is Goldie. I'm a goldfish. Now don't you go judging me. I know what you're thinking. You think I'm stupid. You're not the only one who thinks so. Even the other fish in the aquarium agree. They think I can't remember anything. They refuse to talk to me. They say, I'm going to forget it within 3 seconds anyway, so what's the point of telling me?!

Pricks. I'm fed up of justifying myself to them. So now I just swim around by myself. Not bothering what they think about me. But now that YOU think I'm the same, I think I'd like to explain to you some things about goldfish memory that you obviously don't know, else you would not think I'm stupid. So just scroll down.

My life is quite interesting. I'm a freshwater fish and belong to the Cyprinidae family. I've been adopted as an aquarium fish since time immemorial (pun intended). I'm seen in a wide range of colors like red, orange, brown, white, yellow, and black. I also come in different sizes and shapes. We have many types of goldfish.

I'm a fantail, but I think the Ryukin and Black Moor are so good looking. Most of you will think the Veiltail is gorgeous, but I think she's just a show off! Another thing that you probably don't know is that I cannot close my eyes. Yes, so the next time you see me at the bottom of your aquarium in one corner, don't begin knocking, I'm trying to sleep.

If you do, I can, and most definitely will dirty the water with my poop because, unfortunately, I cannot urinate. So it's your call buddy! I can live for a really long time if given proper care.

Trish, from North Yorkshire, the oldest one of us, who lived for 43 years has become a legend in the aquatic world, you know. These were some interesting facts on goldfish that I thought you would like to know about. You're welcome!

Alright! Enough about my interesting lifestyle. Now let's get down to business. I am going to show you why you're wrong when you think that the memory span of a goldfish is just 3 ridiculous seconds! You've got to be kidding me! I mean HOW can you think we live if we keep forgetting everything within 3 seconds. The ones you saw must have amnesia or something. What? You don't believe me? Fine, I have proof too. Thanks to Rory Stokes, a kind 15 year old in Adelaide and my goldfish brethren in his fish tank, I can prove to you that we do have longer memory span.

Rory conducted a memory experiment in which he placed a few goldfish in his aquarium. When it was time for feeding, he first put a red block into the water and then dropped the fish food around it. At first, the fish were a little afraid, but when they saw the food come in immediately after the red block, they realized that he meant no harm.

So whenever they saw the red block, they swam swiftly towards it expecting food. Within a week, the moment Rory placed the red block inside, the fish were all near it.

He continued this experiment for more than 3 months and whenever the fish saw the red block, they religiously swam towards it, expecting food. This proves that they associated the appearance of the red block with the food and REMEMBERED it!

Still don't believe me? Well, I guess since you guys are so much into television, you'll believe something that was shown on it right? Do you remember the goldfish memory Mythbusters episode? In that, Jamie Hyneman (the host) clearly disproved the theory that the memory span is just 3 seconds (I'm still not over that!). How? This is how.

He placed a maze-like structure in his fish tank and trained his goldfish to cross them (with color codes) to reach the final destination - food. He taught this to them and then removed the obstacles. After a month or so, again he paced them in the tank and the goldfish followed the same route that they had been taught!

So NOW what do you think of the goldfish memory span? Huh? Do you still think we're daft creatures with no brains? I thought not. Apology accepted. All I'd like to say to my goldfish friends who participated in these earth shattering (errr...) experiments, is Bravo! My friends! You did us all proud! We are forever indebted to you! *sob* *sniff*