By: Kevin Guo

Eventually, we all must sleep. It’s what all humans, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians do. But what about fishes? Fish don’t exactly have legs. They also live in water which may affect how they sleep.

DO FISH NEED SLEEP?

Sleeping is different for fishes compared to our sleeping. Their sleep is referred more to as a type of resting. Most fish also can’t close their eyes because they don’t have eyelids. During their sleep, they slow down physical and metabolic processes. Unlike us, fish seem to be more alert when in their sleep. The only fish that sleeps similarly to us that we know of at the moment is the zebrafish which sleeps with rapid eye movements. This is similar to how mammals and reptiles sleep. Some fish have to move to get water flowing through their gills, though some smaller fish are able to breathe with little to no movement at all. They move while sleeping by using half their brain, while the other half rests. Others would try to protect themselves from predators during their sleep by hiding near the reefs or bury themselves in sand or mud.

CONCLUSION

Fish sleeping behaviors depend on multiple factors but most fish slow themselves down and go into an altered resting state. They would sometimes hide in reefs and sometimes swim to keep breathing.