SAEs sad at death of their friend.

[Yisheng]

I used to have 5 very hyperactive SAEs in my tank. Today, my mum noticed that they are not swimming around like usual. Then i saw that one of them had died and the rest are not active. I removed the dead one and after more than one hour, the other 4 then slowly start to comeback to their normal selfs. Conclusion: they feel sad at the death of their fellow member. They had grown up and played together for more than one year, so they will feel sad.

[rocketshrimp]

Or could it be fear? They may be thinking that "god" is punishing them so they better behave in case they get it too....

Just kidding. I don't think animals feel any sadness about death. To them it is just a fact of life. At least not fishes. Higher order animals maybe (cats, dogs)
Just my opinion.

[juggler]

What about discus?

On more than one occassion, when one discus in my tank died, its closest companion usually go into hiding and refuse to come out to eat for about more than a week or two. It also becomes very shy -- dashing off into hiding when I come near.

[lyh]

When one of their friends die could it be that they feel less secure now that their gang is smaller

[colortv]

I used to have 4 SAEs as well. Like yours, always swimming actively around my tank.

One day, one of them died. Slowly the other followed, one by one.

[cjloong]

I have an angelfish who paired. The male died due to bad water condition at one time in my area. The female was left alone for sometime. Later, the female lay eggs by herself and tend to the eggs. The eggs of course did not hatch. This happened a few times before she dies also...

Hmm.... Anyone saw the movie Ghost?

[colortv]

aiyoh so sad....y didnt u get a 'stepfather'?

looks like fish are emotional creatures as well, and perhaps are of an higher order than we thought

[cjloong]

Wanted to get a stepfather but not able to. Myself, keep fighting algae after the death(water problem, many fish died). Later, left the tank alone as not much fish in there liao, just let the plants grow and grow and grow... Gonna rescape when i got time and maybe try angel again... Nice and emotional creatures.

[StanChung]

i had a pair of stunning red turquoise pair, one day my dad discovered the male had passed away. the female wouldn't eat and two weeks later the female died also.

its scary...it just seems the female was depressed although it had company of 2 others.
made me feel depressed for three weeks...