| Taste and Smell 
Pterragoplichthys sp. Photo by Andy Lots of Catfish have a highly developed sense of smell. Can fish taste and smell? The answer is most definitely yes they can, and some can put us to shame. A common Goldfish for instance has a sense of smell many times more sensitive than a Blood Hound. Sharks can detect a few drops of blood from several hundred yard away and so on. Smell So how do they do this? They don't breathe through their noses in order to be able to smell the water around them so how do they achieve this. Most fish have two pairs of nostrils there is a front and rear to each pair and the front and rear are connected to each other in each pair. Water is drawn in to the front nostril by muscular action and expelled through the rear nostril. In between the water is passed over a group of sensory nerves which can detect minute traces of chemicals in the water. some fish have a more highly developed sense of smell than others because they have more senors in the passage between the nostrils. The fish with the most highly developed senses are usually the ones with reduced vision or come from murky water where sight is less important. Whilst others only posses one nostril on each side and water is pumped in and out of the same hole, and these fish usually have good vision which is used in preference to smell. Taste 
Gouramis have taste sensors in their pelvic fins.
Pearl or Lace Gouramis photo by Cillana Unlike us with a single organ used for tasting, fish have a variety of adaptations which gives them far superior tasting senses than us (yet they still eat worms?) Fish use their lips, the inside of their mouths, even on the outside of their heads in some cases, occasionally on other parts of their bodies too, Gouramis for instance have some sensory organs for tasting on their ventral fins and you can observe these in use easily at any time. Lots of Catfish and Carps have barbels these are used for tasting and are extremely sensitive, in some cases they are the way a fish finds its food Back to Ichthyology | 
