# How do tropical fish communicate?



## BORGUSX (May 29, 2008)

I see that my Bloodfin Tetras like to move their mouth,but does anyone something about communcation when it comes in regard to tetras,loaches,frogs,and catfish? Please enlighten me!


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## guri (Jun 17, 2008)

They use biological messenger...a substance or hormones release through their body...
It can act very fast in water...say a fish sees danger, it release the appropriate "scare" hormone to tell the other fishies that they might want to flee....
I believe they use similar process to "advertise" their current sexual state to potential mates.


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## Nudist (Oct 19, 2008)

that proves how much i know... i figured they sent an email or sent a text just like we do. LOL

Steve
ps... i just had to say that, sorry.


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## Livelifelaughlove (Jan 11, 2009)

Lol! no they have this thing for bubble speak. kinda like morse code. one bubble for A two bubbles for B


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

lol.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

How about a fax? lol


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Male frogs croak to mark out their territory, to threaten other male frogs and to call females to them.
Loaches make clicking noises when frightened or trying to scare off other fish. My loaches click like crazy during feeding time.
I've seen my pleco & catfish get into a scuff and heard a strange screech type sound when this happened. I'm sure that's the cat or pleco's way of saying, "Back Off".

As far as our barbs, tetras, cichlids,etc. I'm sure visual cues are the way they communicate. Body movements, postures, colors and color patterns are what I notice my fish displaying. My rams will color "up" or color "down", depending upon what message they want to get acroos. 
As guri states, fish also communicate by releasing chemicals called pheromones. I'm always amazed that fish can "smell".


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## Livelifelaughlove (Jan 11, 2009)

There is Aunt Kymmie for us. has to go off the facts and reality... 

Oh and drama, they can't use a fax. water and electricity= Not good


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Oh, that's right, darn it! lol They would probably get electrocuted! They couldn't send an e-mail or text either, for the same reasons.


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## Livelifelaughlove (Jan 11, 2009)

sigh back to bubble-code

lol or maybe sign language for fish!

Lol i can just see a fish sending smoke signals!  weird image lol


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You can't have fire under water. lol So no smoke signals.


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## Nudist (Oct 19, 2008)

one thing for sure i can tell you... back when i was able to scuba dive, i went on a shark feed in the Bahamas even though i had ALWAYS said i would NEVER do that and i swear while we were down there all the sharks were communicating with me and i understood they wanted me to leave so i was one of the 1st divers to head back to the boat. 

seriously, it was a fun dive that i enjoyed a bunch but i would never do it again. LOL

Steve


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Steve, that sounds fantastic! What type of sharks were they? What were you feeding them? Did you get any pics??


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## Nudist (Oct 19, 2008)

aunt kymmie said:


> Steve, that sounds fantastic! What type of sharks were they? What were you feeding them? Did you get any pics??


it was mainly nurse sharks and reef sharks but with some of them bigger than i was, to me it was scary. the divemaster from Blackbeard's, the sailboat we were on was the one feeding them and it was frozen fish that they had caught. i took some pics but unfortunately the quality isnt that great.

Steve


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## Sj45 (Jan 5, 2009)

haha, I like the last one, great pictures!


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

thanks for making this thread, its pretty interesting.
sharks have the abilitly to sense fear from a decent distance, i want to say its electrolytes or electro something or other that is released when something displays fear and the can sense it. ( not sure if its electrolytes or whatever but its something like that) and as im sure many of you are aware they can smell a drop of blood in the water. they also are attracked to loud noises/movement.
dolphins, whales make noises communicating. a fish in your tank nipping at another fish is communication, it simply means get away, lol but communication none the less. clownfish "twitch" which ive heard is a sign of dominancy but not sure on that. pistol shrimp pair up with watchman gobies and the shrimp will dig the hole, the goby will keep a look out. when the goby sees danger it flutters its tail and the shrimp returns to the hole. here is communication between 2 different species, pretty amazing.
as for kym saying its amazing that fish can "smell" you should see my tank go wild over 1 squirt of food. the fish go crazy, the corals come to life, nassarious snails emerge from the sand over a drop of food hitting the water so its apparent they have some sort of sense too. 
i dont know much on the bubble code theory, lol but a bettas bubble nest as well as flaring is communication.

if you think about it, all animals have some sort of way of communication, wether it be verbal or non-verbal. ever wonder how ants walk in lines? they to are communicating by using their feelers for scents and touch of other friendly ants. pretty crazy stuff.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Wow! Cool pics!


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Steve- Those are great pictures. What a once in a lifetime experience. I'd love to do that one day. The idea of sharks in the water freak me out when I'm surfing. Sitting on a board in the water makes you feel like possible shark chum. Being under water is a whole different ball game. Thanks so much for sharing the pics.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Thats whyI don't go in the ocean. I think its beautiful though. The idea of being around something that sees me as food scares the crap out of me.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Your chances of being involved in a car crash are greater than being attacked by a shark. Of course, if you never step foot in the ocean this would never apply to you! 
As for me, I'd rather take my chances with a shark than an oncoming car. :-D


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## Nudist (Oct 19, 2008)

aunt kymmie said:


> Steve- Those are great pictures. What a once in a lifetime experience. I'd love to do that one day. The idea of sharks in the water freak me out when I'm surfing. Sitting on a board in the water makes you feel like possible shark chum. Being under water is a whole different ball game. Thanks so much for sharing the pics.


 i'm glad you and the others enjoyed the pics, needless to say... i enjoyed taking them. 

i do have to admit it was a great dive and other than being scared to death, it was fun.  from everything i have always heard, surfers are a lot more likely to get attacked by sharks than divers are because they see surfers as something injured on the surface and when they see divers they are more curious than anything else unless you have blood on you which everybody knows what happens then. 

Steve


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## Livelifelaughlove (Jan 11, 2009)

We went Snorkling in the bahamas when we were there, no sharks though. But i was still the first one to get back on the boat! and i made my dad hold my hand the entire time.
I don't... i don't do well with ocean, even though i live 1/4 mile away from the pacific. 
We also went to hawaii for 2 weeks, and i didn't go past my knees once in the water lol, i got to my knees looked down and saw a whole bunch of fish by my feet... i retreated back to the beach towel...  so much for bravery

So drama, i think we are back to the morse bubbles


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Emmnemms, I'm like you, no going past the knees for me either. lol


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## BORGUSX (May 29, 2008)

aunt kymmie said:


> Your chances of being involved in a car crash are greater than being attacked by a shark. Of course, if you never step foot in the ocean this would never apply to you!
> As for me, I'd rather take my chances with a shark than an oncoming car. :-D


Well,when I get my Jaguar or Porsche,lol! Oh dear...


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