New study suggests fish may feel emotions

A recent study published in the journal Science has found that fish may be capable of feeling emotions. The study demonstrated that fish can detect fear in other fish, and then become afraid too, indicating a capacity for empathy, according to the researchers.

The study also found that a fish’s ability to feel emotions is regulated by oxytocin, the same brain chemical that underlies the capacity for empathy in humans.

To demonstrate the phenomenon, the researchers deleted the genes linked to producing and absorbing oxytocin in zebrafish, a small tropical fish often used for research. The fish then became essentially antisocial – failing to detect or change their behavior when other fish were anxious.

When oxytocin levels were restored, the fish began acting similarly and mirroring the emotions of other fish. “They respond to other individuals being frightened. In that regard, they behave just like us,” said University of Calgary neuroscientist Ibukun Akinrinade, a co-author of the study.

The study also showed that zebrafish will pay more attention to fish that have previously been stressed out – a behavior the researchers likened to consoling them.

Humans catch and farm fish at a rate of 11 times the combined number of cows, chickens and pigs slaughtered globally, and this number is projected to rise. The seafood market was a 250 billion dollar industry in 2022.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.