Do fish sleep?

[Pebbles]

I guess I always assumed they do but here is how.

11892

Yes fish sleep. But it’s not sleep as we know it. They don’t have eyelids to close, they sometimes do it during the day, they don’t show the characteristic brainwave patterns like REM sleep seen in humans, and some, including most sharks have to keep swimming in their sleep.

But fishes do have a period of reduced activity and metabolism which seems to perform the same restorative functions as nocturnal sleep does in humans. Some are more obvious about it than others and actually rest on the bottom or in coral crevices, and parrotfish secrete a mucus “sleeping bag” around themselves before they go to sleep. If you get up quietly in the middle of the night you will find your goldfish in an almost trance- like state, hovering near the bottom of the tank making just the minimum correcting motions with its fins to maintain its position in the water column. If you put food in when they’re like this they take noticeably longer than usual to respond, as if they have trouble waking up.

Mr. Oliver Crimmen, Fish Curator, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum

[albiealert]

I guess I always assumed they do but here is how.

...and parrotfish secrete a mucus “sleeping bag” around themselves before they go to sleep.


That's weird.:don't know why:

[voyager35]

For all the folks who wonder why the bays are closed in the winter, you should know that there are some deeper holes where many years ago bass were known to congregate, sort of in a semi-hibernation state like the one described above. When parts of the bay froze, those who knew the holes could go out and spear the fish. It was like the proverbial sitting ducks. At a reduced activity state, fish don't move much at all.

[jonthepain]

...and parrotfish secrete a mucus “sleeping bag” around themselves before they go to sleep.

doesn't everybody?
:huh: