There are very few animals who can recognize their own reflections. A recent study proves that the Labroides dimidiatu, commonly known as the cleaner fish, could be the latest edition to that list. An MSR study (mirror self-recognition) was conducted to investigate the cleaner fish’s reactions to images and reflections of themselves and of other fishes. Analyzing their aggression of behaviors, the research team concluded that, just like humans, these fishes appeared to be quite able to recognize the reflection of their own individual faces.
The First Test
For the research, the team first conducted the mirror mark test, where 10 cleaner fish samples were chosen and marked on their throats, each marking resembling an ectoparasite. Then each fish was shown its own reflection in a mirror. All of the sample fishes exhibited throat-scraping behaviors, attempting to remove the suspected parasite.
The Second Test
Cleaner fish are generally known to react aggressively toward any unfamiliar fish. So, the team continued further testing with still images of cleaner fishes and a few unfamiliar fishes, presented before the live ones. They found that the fish who hadn’t participated in the previous mirror mark test acted aggressively to any still image of a fish, even if it was their own image on display. This result suggests that the mirror test acted as an effective way for those cleaner fishes to learn the visual characteristics of their own reflections.
The Findings
The researchers also combined the two sets of tests by putting the same mark on the throat of different fish images. The result showed that 75% of the fish tested exhibited throat-scraping behaviors while seeing still images of themselves but not seeing the images of the other fishes. It suggested that those fish could recognize the images as their own reflections. Adding their aggressive behaviors toward any unfamiliar fish’s images, these rounds of tests interestingly suggest that cleaner fish have a self-face recognition ability much the same as humans.
Lewis Capaldi Surprised Commuters by Singing in London Station
Daily commuters at a train station in London recently got a sweet surprise when they found Lewis Capaldi singing his brand-new single. Lovingly known as the Scottish Beyoncé, the celebrated singer announced the new single “Pointless” on November 25th and also gave his fans a short 30-second preview of the song. The single was released on December 2nd. To hype up his song, even more, Capaldi decided to perform it on a piano in front of shocked commuters at the St. Pancras International train station in London.
The TikTok Videos
The video of the surprise public performance by Lewis Capaldi is uploaded to the official TikTok account of UK Charts. Alongside singing the brand new track on piano, Capaldi was also seen handing out flyers to the commuters advertising his new song, like a local football team recruiter! From another TikTok video of the same event, we could see a little girl playing the public piano at the station before Lewis Capaldi approached to perform “Pointless.” In a truly heartwarming moment, Capaldi was seen shaking hands with the young girl, giving her a high-five, and complimenting her skill of playing piano. Then, he took to the piano with the little girl standing by his side and looking on. It was undoubtedly a lovely surprise for the London station commuters, and especially for the young girl.
Future Plans
The song “Pointless” is co-written by Lewis Capaldi and another fan-favorite artist Ed Sheeran. It’s the second single from Capaldi since his big comeback earlier this year. Released in September, “Forget Me” by the musician was an instant hit. Next year, Capaldi will launch his second album named Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent. He will also go on a tour across the UK and Europe.