And why do they still try to swim away after you gut them...is it just nerves, or are they still alive?
124781
Heres the answer to your question and youll probably learn some extra information about this topic... Enjoy...\n\n\n\nDo Fish Feel Pain?\n\nBy Dr. James D. Rose, University of Wyoming\n\nDo fish, like humans, experience pain and suffering? People hold very differing beliefs about this question. Some would believe that if fish react to stimuli that would cause a person to feel pain that the fish must also be feeling pain. Others assume that fish are too different from humans for the matter to be of concern. Many people don’t know quite what to think about the issue. Neuroscience research has clarified the neurological and psychological processes that cause the experience of pain, so we can address this question from a large base of factual information.\n\nPAIN IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE THAT IS SEPARATE FROM BEHAVIORAL REACTIONS TO INJURIOUS STIMULI\n\n  It has become very clear that pain is a psychological experience with both a perceptual aspect and an emotional aspect. The perceptual aspect tells us that we have been injured, like the first sensation when you hit your thumb with a hammer. The emotional aspect is separate as in the suffering that follows after we are first aware of hitting our thumb. But, injurious stimuli do not always lead to the experience of pain. Think of a trip to the dentist.  When a dentist injects a local anesthetic into your jaw to block nerve conduction, some of your teeth and a part of your mouth feel numb. When a tooth is then drilled, the sensory nerve cells in the tooth that would normally trigger pain are still excited, but the nerve block prevents activity in these receptors from being sent to the brain, so pain is not felt.  In addition, a person’s behavioral reaction to pain is separate from pain experience. We see this separation when a person endures pain without showing any discomfort. On the other hand, people sometimes react behaviorally to injury without any feeling any experience of pain or suffering. This kind of separation between behavioral and psychological responses to injury results from certain forms of damage of the brain or spinal cord. Because the experience of pain is separate from the behavioral response to injury, the term nociception is used to refer to detection of injury by the nervous system (which may or may not lead to pain).  Injurious stimuli that usually lead to pain experience are called nociceptive stimuli. The term pain should be used only to refer to the unpleasant psychological experience that can result from a nociceptive stimulus.\n\nREACTIONS TO INJURY ARE PRESENT IN ALL FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE BUT THESE REACTIONS DO NOT MEAN THAT PAIN IS EXPERIENCED-IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR A NOCICEPTIVE STIMULUS TO BE CONSCIOUSLY EXEPERIENCED FOR A BEHAVIORAL REACTION TO OCCUR\n\n In humans, reactions to nociceptive stimuli are usually associated with feelings of pain. Consequently, humans often assume that reactions by animals to nociceptive stimuli mean that these animals experience similar pain. In reality, reactions to nociceptive stimuli are protective responses that can occur in forms of life that are incapable of perceiving pain. The ability to detect and react to nociceptive stimuli is a widespread characteristic of animal life. Single-celled creatures such as an ameba will move away from irritating chemical or mechanical stimuli. These reactions are automatic and because the ameba doesn’t have a nervous system, it has no ability to actually sense the stimulus that causes its reaction or to feel pain. There are many other invertebrate organisms (animals without backbones) that also react to nociceptive stimuli, but with somewhat more complex patterns of escape than an ameba. For example, starfish have a primitive nervous system that interconnects sensory receptors detecting injurious stimuli with muscle cells that cause movements, enabling the starfish to slowly move away from a nociceptive stimulus. The starfish’s nervous system has only a small number
72962
I don't think its the water, I think it has more to do with what is in the water and what may happen when you go swimming in it... I think most fear sharks, or other creatures that occupy the water and it does get very scary at times.  The best way to swim in Deep water is to go with friends that are very supportive and that are very understanding....  :)
638855
they have horns. Look for small antennae at the back of their head too thats a sure sign that they are good freinds. Just keep those bots away from water
621198
they see themselves in the water and see a much larger thing looking back at them and they run from it... louisiana fly repellant lol dont work....do you need help with evil spirits?
580728
A dog can maul a possum so badly that you'll swear the critter is deader than a door nail.  But you walk away only to find it gone when you come back a few minutes later.  It got up and meandered away while you weren't looking.  Possums really do play dead.  Their metabolism almost comes to a stop, naturally.  It's a self protective device that is so effective it fools almost every single animal that attacks it, and they seldom get eaten after an attack.  They can play dead for hours if they need to.  I once carried one home from a hunt when I was a boy.  I walked, carrying it alternately by its tail and its hind feet until I got home.  The hike was probably about forty-five minutes.  Not once during the entire hike did I see or detect any sign of life in the animal.  I got home and laid it on the porch while I went inside to get a knife with which to butcher and skin it.  I was going to cook it for supper that evening or the next.  The possum was gone when I returned to the porch.\n\nSo, the answer is that they really do play dead.  And very well too.
518162
Piranhas are triggered to attack by erratic behavior from the animal they wish to eat. If a catfish is missing a fin so it is swimming in an unusual way the piranha tear it to pieces. The same catfish with all its fins, healthy, swimming with confidence, has a much greater chance of not being eaten. His chances go from 0% to about 50%. Also blood in the water will set them into a frenzy. They prefer to attack the wounded, sick, and dying.\n\nAlso there are close to 100 species of piranha and only four known dangerous species. One of those four is called the Red Bellied Piranha. It is possible they were not swimming with this particularly nasty species but with one of over 90 more docile species.
674325
Animals that can't swim away.
261227
In order to withstand pressure, their cells must counterbalance the extreme pressure outside. Also, animals at such depths are generally colourless and are blind. They navigate by sound.
160155
Probably not because I would think they don't get the feeling of thirst it's just an instinct to take in water.
656693
It's actually very fun and entertaining to try to catch them with your hands. You do have to be very careful because they are extremely fragile. Whatever you do, be sure to let them go shortly after catching them because they do not survive in captivity!
465891
Worms don't really have much in the way of a brain or nervous system, so I doubt they mind.  As far as other animals, I used to be against it but I've become rather desensitized to it... Many more animals are killed to become food or fur, or killed for sport... I have to deal with killing mice on a regular basis to feed snakes... They are low on the food chain for a reason.  A few humanely euthanized rats here and there for students to learn is a small price to pay.  As a bio student, there really is no replacement for learning first hand on the real thing.  My favorite dissection was a fetal pig in high school... Very interesting.  The only time I took offense was a mink dissection, and that is because the school was actually getting the minks from fur farms and paying for them, so our experiments were fueling the fur trade...
130970
Some animals do laugh-I've personally seen Shamoo, the killer whale at Sea World float right up to the glass wall of his tank and wait for a bunch of people to get close.  When he had a good crowd, he'd very suddenly jump up and crash down drenching them all.  Then he'd stick his head out of the water and laugh at them-a high pitched "eh-eh-eh" sound-but clearly laughter. I've seen a siverback gorrila at a zoo laugh too-after he scared the hell out of some obnoxious school kids.  I watched both these animals, and they would repeat this behaviour often-telling me that they A) Got some genuine enjoyment out of it and B) Actively set these scenarios up.  So, as with most other forms of behavior, humans do not have a monopoly on laughter.
178964
I have that fear too. I also don't know exactly what it is called. I fear the drains on the bottom of pools because I fear of being sucked under and not being able to get back up. Don't laugh!! It's true. My favorite water creature is the orca. Ok but I have the fear of swimming in lakes and the ocean because I fear being dragged out and under. I used to love feeling the sand being pulled from under me by the surf... And then I saw the signs posted around the beach. \n\nIf your fears are similar to mine, the it may be the fear of water taking you that you have. Just try not to think about it when you're doing those things. And imagine dolphins doing the can-can!  :)  Be strong!
255485
Punching its nose might help you fend off a shark if you're only being attacked by one or two.  However, if you're being attacked by a group of sharks, it is ineffective.  Unless you have a powerful shark repellent at hand (who ever does?), your best strategy is to get out of the water ASAP.
313796
Forget about the whole "we're so much better than animals" thing. Our animal instincts still affect us, even though it's not apparent. The "fight and flight" instinct is still prominent in our systems.\n\nSo when man murders outside of "he'll kill me first" then it's a mental thing that they are willing to do. Does that mean that we're all capable outside of that, sure. We just decide that a person's life isn't as important as ours (which is what hunters have when they hunt, no hunter things of the animal as an equal). So if you can value a life over your own, then it's possible.
200142
They are likely following air currents-Flies dont think about where they are going-they dont really "think" at all, in terms of making decisions.  THey just have simple reactions to ari currents, heat, light, and chemical sensations (food)-If they are circling, its because there are air current moving in a circular motion, and they are following those.
637871
Great point, but the question should be why are you still hanging on to these blighters? Why dont you give them Independence and let them sink of float on their own, and worry about your problems?