Institute of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology and Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel.
Anim Cogn. 2010 May;13(3):507-13. doi: 10.1007/s10071-009-0301-5. Epub 2009 Dec 18.
Testing the cognitive abilities of cartilaginous fishes is important in understanding the evolutionary origins of cognitive functions in higher vertebrates. We used five South American fresh water stingrays (Potamotrygon castexi) in a learning and problem-solving task. A tube test apparatus was developed to provide a simple but sophisticated procedure for testing cognitive abilities of aquatic animals. All five subjects quickly learned to use water as a tool to extract food from the testing apparatus. The experimental protocol, which gave the animals the opportunity of correcting a wrong visual cue decision, resulted in four out of five subjects correcting an error rather than making an initial right choice. One of five subjects reached 100% correct trials in the visual discrimination task. The ability to use water as an agent to extract food from the testing apparatus is a first indication of tool use in batoid fishes. Performance in the instrumental task of retrieving food from a novel testing apparatus and the rapid learning in the subsequent discrimination/error correction task shows that cartilaginous fish can be used to study the origins of cognitive functions in the vertebrate lineage.
测试软骨鱼类的认知能力对于理解高等脊椎动物认知功能的进化起源非常重要。我们使用了五种南美洲淡水𫚉鱼（Potamotrygon castexi）来进行学习和解决问题的任务。我们开发了一种管状测试设备，为测试水生动物的认知能力提供了一种简单而复杂的程序。所有五个实验对象都很快学会了用水作为工具从测试设备中提取食物。实验方案给了动物纠正错误视觉线索决策的机会，结果有四个实验对象纠正了错误，而不是最初做出正确的选择。五个实验对象中有一个在视觉辨别任务中达到了 100%的正确试验。能够用水作为从测试设备中提取食物的工具是鳐鱼使用工具的第一个迹象。从新颖的测试设备中取回食物的工具任务的表现以及随后的辨别/纠错任务中的快速学习表明，软骨鱼类可用于研究脊椎动物谱系中认知功能的起源。
