Fish too look after their mates!

While such behaviour has been documented for highly social birds and mammals, it has previously been believed to be impossible for fish.

A news study has found that every cartoon you’ve ever seen is true.

Marine biologists have generally assumed that fish did not have the brain power to co-operate with other fish, however a new study shows that some fish pairings look out for each other as they’re searching for food.

However a new study conducted by researchers from the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Queensland, have found that pairs of rabbitfish actually watch each other’s back while scavenging for food.

The researchers noticed that when one fish was in a stationary, upright place, their mate felt snug sufficient to feed.

However, standing on guard implies an entire array of social skills, especially since it involves reciprocity and watching out for each other instead of just one gaining from the partnership while the other submits. However, the researchers were able to say that the relationship seems to be built on the reciprocal cooperation between food foraging partners. “This behaviour is so far unique among fishes and appears to be based on reciprocal cooperation between pair members”, Brandl said.

The discovery has come as a big surprise to researchers who have regularly debated about whether or not social cooperation – commonly found in primates – is practiced amongst species that do not possess a high level of cognitive development.

“Our findings should further ignite efforts to understand fishes as highly developed organisms with complex social behavior”, he said. Reciprocal cooperation is believed to require complex cognitive and social skills, which has otherwise not been attributed to fish.

Professor David Bellwood, one of Dr Brandl’s colleagues from James Cook University’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, gave a statement if his own empathizing that the field experts have started changing their view of fish quite dramatically in recent years. He added that “this may also require a shift in how we study and ethically treat fishes”.

The findings were published earlier this week, in the Journal Nature Scientific Reports.