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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

This fish knows its own face in a mirror

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse attacks composite images of its own body and another fish’s head — but not pictures of its own head on another fish’s body.
A white, blue and black fish in a bare tank with a mirrored wall.

A bluestreak cleaner wrasse looks at its reflection in a mirror. Credit: Taiga Kobayashi

Fish might not be the brainiest of animals, but new research suggests that some of these finned creatures can recognize their own faces in a mirror — an indication of self-awareness that has so far been found only in humans and a few other species1.

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Nature 614, 393 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00352-2

References

  1. Kohda, M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2208420120 (2023).

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