Play as Enrichment: Reggae’s Rubber Ducky and More

Can fishes play?

The answer, said aquarist Allison Waltz-Hill, is yes—fish do seem to play!

“What this looks like can vary a lot depending on species and it’s important to distinguish ‘play’ from normal survival activities like foraging,” Allison said. They pointed to a paper that investigated the topic which outlined criteria for defining “play” in animals, including that the behavior is spontaneous, and that it is “begun in the absence of stress, hunger, predation,” or other “unhealthy” circumstances. The experiment utilized laser pointers to test whether fishes engaged in play by recording the fishes’ interest level in the laser pointer, as well as behavioral changes.

Here at the Aquarium, “I’ve seen a lot of different examples of what I would interpret as play behaviors,” Allison said. Fish will interact with tools during exhibit maintenance, push and manipulate enrichment items like balls when food is not involved, engage with water flow and bubbles to “surf” seemingly unnecessarily, and investigating aquarists in exhibits.

“They will also watch a video on an iPad,” Allison added. “I’m not sure if this is ‘playing,’ but it’s certainly an example of how curious fishes can be!”

Like their colleagues who work with penguins and marine mammals, Allison and their fellow aquarists offer enrichment to fishes, too—for example, Captain Bobo, a South American lungfish, engages with a dog toy shaped like a twenty-sided die. The dolphin-headed elephantfish in the Ancestral Fishes exhibit can also be playful. As part of the mormyidae family of fishes, a group of notoriously inquisitive and clever fish, the dolphin-headed elephantfish enjoys moving objects around—including the die and other dog toys—and likes investigating tools and interacting with them.

“Some fishes may playfully interact with and manipulate elements of their everyday environments,” Allison added. “This is why providing a complex environment with lots of options to engage in natural behaviors, including play, is important—even for fishes!”