Further evidence for the capacity of mirror self-recognition in cleaner fish and the significance of ecologically relevant marks

DOI IR Web Site Research Data 7 Citations 59 References Open Access

Bibliographic Information

Published
2022-02-17
Resource Type
journal article
Rights Information
  • クリエイティブ・コモンズ　表示 4.0 国際
  • Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
  • © 2022 Kohda et al.
DOI
  • 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001529
Publisher
Public Library of Science

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Description

An animal that tries to remove a mark from its body that is only visible when looking into a mirror displays the capacity for mirror self-recognition (MSR), which has been interpreted as evidence for self-awareness. Conservative interpretations of existing data conclude that convincing evidence for MSR is currently restricted to great apes. Here, we address proposed shortcomings of a previous study on MSR in the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus, by varying preexposure to mirrors and by marking individuals with different colors. We found that (1) 14/14 new individuals scraped their throat when a brown mark had been provisioned, but only in the presence of a mirror; (2) blue and green color marks did not elicit scraping; (3) intentionally injecting the mark deeper beneath the skin reliably elicited spontaneous scraping in the absence of a mirror; (4) mirror-naive individuals injected with a brown mark scraped their throat with lower probability and/or lower frequency compared to mirror-experienced individuals; (5) in contrast to the mirror images, seeing another fish with the same marking did not induce throat scraping; and (6) moving the mirror to another location did not elicit renewed aggression in mirror-experienced individuals. Taken together, these results increase our confidence that cleaner fish indeed pass the mark test, although only if it is presented in ecologically relevant contexts. Therefore, we reiterate the conclusion of the previous study that either self-awareness in animals or the validity of the mirror test needs to be revised.

Journal

  • PLOS BIOROGY

    PLOS BIOROGY 20 (2), e3001529-, 2022-02-17

    Public Library of Science

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