FISH can tell the difference between classical music and the blues.
Ava Chase of the Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
discovered this when she placed loudspeakers in a fish tank to play music to
carp (Cyprinus carpio). Using food rewards, she trained three fish to
tell the difference between a John Lee Hooker track and a Bach oboe
concerto.
The fish could then categorise pieces they hadn’t heard before, such as Muddy
Waters songs or Beethoven sonatas, as classical or blues (Animal Learning
& Behavior, vol 29, p 336). They also distinguished between simple
melodies played backwards…
