Scientists have captured videos showing that primates, birds and other mammals are not the only organisms that utilize tools; the newest addition to this list is fish! The Blackspot Tuskfish has been filmed to pick up a clam and repeatedly throw it against a rock until it breaks open. Even though the ability to use tools has been identified in a wide variety of animals such as crows and octopus, this is the first time that evidence has proven that fish are just as intelligent.
Blackspot Tuskfish (Choerodon schoenleinii) are found in coral reefs located in the South China Sea as well as Southeast Asia including Australia. They are typically one foot long and weigh an average of about 14 kg.
Professional diver Scott Gardner took the first ever photo of the tuskfish using a rock to crack open a shellfish off of the coast of the Great Barrier Reef. Even though this appears to be very simple task, the mental process that the fish must go through to associate throwing clams at rocks with cracking the shells is phenomenal and unexpected of typical wild fish. Gardner found many fragments of shells close to nearby rocks which indicate that this behavior was not a result of mere coincidence.
In 2009, evolutionary biologist Giacomo Bernardi from the University of California provided definitive proof of this process by capturing a video from the Pacific island of Palau. Experts who analyzed the video said that the fish are very “forward thinking in their hunt for sustenance.”
Below is the video that is taken by Dr. Bernardi: