If you have an aquarium or have seen one regularly, then you have probably noticed that they are always swimming around. They may change the pace of their movements, but you never see one lying down taking a nap. So, when do pet fish sleep? Or don’t they? The truth is, researchers are yet to find an animal in the world that doesn’t sleep. However, with most animals, you can see when they are sleeping. The neocortex in the brain “turns off,” they lie down, close their eyes, and rarely move. The difference is, fish have neither a neocortex nor eyelids to close.
Fish, though, have regular sleep patterns like most animals. Most of them are the same as people, too. They sleep at night, and are awake and moving in the day. You can tell that a fish is sleeping, if you catch them, by the lack of movement. Although, most fish tend to hide when they sleep so that the nocturnal predatory fish cannot find them easily. Next time you want to catch your fish sleeping, go to them a few hours after you have turned their lights off, and see if you can spot them.
