The test seems reserved for animals that we spontaneously judge intelligent: place a visible mark only in a mirror, and then look if the individual tries to remove it from his own body. However, the cleaning lab has produced results that shake up this intuition.
In a study published in 2022, fourteen new fish marked with brown rub their throats in the presence of the mirror. Blue or green marks do not trigger the same response. For an animal that specializes in cleaning parasites, the relevance of what it sees matters a lot.
The authors defend an interpretation in terms of test success, while discussing what this implies for its validity. The conclusion is not limited to “all fish have a human consciousness”. The result poses a more interesting question: when we design an intelligence test, do we sufficiently understand the world of the animal that passes it?
What we know
Species, ecological context and interpretation of the test specified; not universal conclusion on the consciousness of all fish.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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