Animal cognition refers to the mechanisms involved in learning, memory
and decision-making, and can be described as the way individuals perceive,
process and act on information about their environment.
This field is dominated by research on primate species, yet recent evidence
suggests that other animal taxa, including some mammal, bird and fish
species, are capable of similar cognitive abilities previously described only
in primates.
The bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, is a prime example.
Similar to primates, these fish use Machiavellian Intelligence-like behavioural
strategies to maximize personal gain across repeated social interactions.
Cleaner wrasse have even shown to outcompete three different primate
species (chimpanzees, orang-utans, capuchin monkeys) in a complex
laboratory-based cognitive foraging task.