Pet Fish: Do fish ever feel pain?

Despite what many people believe, pet fish are intelligent animals and they feel emotions. Maybe not in the same way we do, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel or don’t have the capacity to suffer. Fish interact, play, have social life and hierarchies, use tools and develop cultural betrayals. They have unique personalities and are capable of learning and memorizing. Without a doubt, these animals are sentient beings. Just like mammals or humans.

We do not know if they have feelings as such, but we do know that they may feel joy, fear, or even stress and depression. Just as how pet fishes can lose their appetite, hyperventilate, and be listless when they feel bad. The survival of animals depends to a large extent on their being able to feel pain. Since, in this way, they can detect danger and avoid injury. So pain is essential to survive and so it is also in the case of a pet fish.

Why do we know that pet fish feel pain?

Multiple studies have been conducted in different species that demonstrate this theory. Pet fish have nervous systems and nociceptors that receive and process pain signals. In addition, when they suffer some damage they behave differently and also improve when they are administered painkillers. For example, when a fish receives a painful stimulus in its mouth, such as hooking a hook, it rubs for relief.

Pet fish not only feel pain but are also able to learn from situations that have caused it and prevent them from happening again. On the other hand, they react to medications administered for pain, reducing symptoms or behaviors associated with the damage produced. Such as loss of appetite or reduced activity in a pet fish.

It has long been questioned whether fish feel pain because they don’t express it like other animals or like humans. For example, they don’t change their expression or scream out of the water. This, together with the fact that they live in an environment very different from ours, also makes us feel less empathy towards them than we can feel towards other animals. In addition, it was not very clear that their nervous system was complex enough to perceive pain.
To this day, there is much research that shows that pet fish do feel pain. In fact, it has recently been shown that although their awareness of pain is different from ours, they feel it in a way that is quite similar to us.