Do goldfish really have a ten-second memory?

We know goldfish can recognise their owners or keepers," says london Aquarium aquarist Luke Rosser, 'beacause they'll swim to the surface expecting food when the owner approaches the tank. They also get disoriented if you rearrange the objects or plants around them." Research at the university of Utrecht in Holland supports Rosser's view, finding that carp - close relatives of the goldfish - will avoid a particular bait, once caught with it, for a year or more.