If you were asked to imagine a fish driving a car, you would likely envision a Dr. Seuss book, not an animal behavior experiment. But wait…
When researchers in Israel wanted to analyze if spatial visualization and navigation are specific to a species or environment or are universal traits, they set about seeing how fish could navigate on land.
They put goldfish in a tank atop a robotic wheeled platform that used fish movements in the water to steer the device over solid ground. The fish were trained to “drive” toward a target seen through the tank’s clear walls to receive a food reward.
After several days of training, the fish could hit the target, even after encountering obstacles and readjusting. The study suggested that navigational skill is universal. It also showed that fish have impressively flexible intelligence.