Goldfish - Memory Span

"A goldfish has a memory span of about 8 seconds. Smart animal, huh!!"

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) are small ornamental freshwater fish that are commonly kept as pets. Goldfish were one of the earliest breeds of fish to be domesticated and are still one of the most commonly kept fish in aquariums and outdoor water gardens.Goldfish were originally domesticated from the Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio), a dark greyish brown carp native to Asia.

In 1994, a public experiment at the Palais de la Découverte science museum showed that goldfish could be trained to recognize and to react to light signals of different colors by using positive reinforcement.The Discovery Channel's popular show Mythbusterstested the contemporary legend that goldfish only had a memory span of 8 seconds and were able to prove that goldfish had a longer memory span than commonly believed.

The experiment involved training the fish to navigate a maze. It was evident that they were able to remember the correct path of the maze and that they therefore had a memory span of over eight seconds.