People often assume that fish don’t feel pain. That’s odd because, like other animals we believe can feel pain — horses, dogs, cats, rats, humans — fish are vertebrates.
They have the same senses we have (vision, hearing, etc.) plus some. Their specialized senses help them navigate, hunt, and communicate in ways that are unimaginable for us land-dwellers.
Do Fish Feel Pain Like Humans?
The behavior of fish in response to painful events is complex and experts often question it since the structure of their brains is different from other species. Despite this, fish possess some brain regions that play a role in how they might feel pain. And because the fish world is so different from ours, our empathetic instincts might not automatically extend to them. We don’t hear fish distress signals underwater and they can’t vocalize pain. Or, as Carl Safina, an ecologist said in The Guardian, “When you are a fish, no one can hear you scream.”
But do fish have anything to scream about? If you think fish do feel pain, or if you think they don’t, the answer probably seems pretty obvious to you. But scientists have been debating the issue for years.
