People who fish for recreation frequently tell concerned animal welfare advocates that fish cannot feel pain and have no nerves in their mouths. Lynne Sneddon of Liverpool University, in a new review published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, debunks this myth, pointing out that our oceans’ scaly inhabitants feel pain in the same way that we do.
Extreme heat has a negative effect on zebrafish and goldfish behavior, which is alleviated with pain relief drugs.
“When the fish’s lips are painfully stimulated, they rub their mouths against the side of the tank, much like we rub our toes when we stub them,” Sneddon explained in a statement.
Many fish, however, have swim bladders that allow them to control their buoyancy. So tripping and hitting your head isn’t an issue for a fish. Nonetheless, Sneddon writes that it would be interesting to study pain perception in fish that live on the ocean floor.