• Question: Can fish see as clearly as us, in water?

    Asked by SofiaS.05 to Carrie, Cedric, Ellen, Ines, Rupert on 7 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Carrie Ijichi

      Carrie Ijichi answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      I’m not a specialist on eyes but since fish belong in the water and we’re only underwater visitors, they might be able to see much better than we can.

    • Photo: Ellen Williams

      Ellen Williams answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      I would hope that fish can see better than I can in the water! Without goggles I can’t see a thing and with goggles I am all steamed up – it is a bit of a guessing game if I am honest!

      I would imagine that most fish have good eyesight in water – the eyes are usually positioned to the sides of the face (I think!) which would give them a wide field of vision. The only fish that would have poor eyesight or no sight are the ones that live in the very depths of the oceans (where the light doesn’t penetrate to and therefore there is no use for eyes!)

    • Photo: Rupert Marshall

      Rupert Marshall answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      Hi Sofia,
      Fish vision is not something I know lots about. But I do know that many fish can see most colours like mammals and humans – some can see colours we can’t, like ultra-violet (birds can see this too).

    • Photo: Ines Goncalves

      Ines Goncalves answered on 9 Mar 2017:

      I’d imagine they can see better, because they evolved to live and see underwater. For example, I think fish are much better at judging distances under water and detecting changes in polarised light (light waves that run in the same direction). Underwater, fish are kings and we’re nothing but fish bait!

    • Photo: Cedric Tan

      Cedric Tan answered on 13 Mar 2017:

      Probably they can see better than us in water, as they spend their whole life in water. For example, I am sure they can see further in water and also have vision that allows them to see more than forwards. That’s why their eyes are on the side and not facing forward like ours. These are important in avoiding predators as well as to hunt for prey like smaller fish to eat.

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