It’s long been touted that fish don’t feel pain. Aquarists may argue this point on both sides of the line. Some may believe that fish feel an entire array of emotions, while others would assume that physical responses to stimulus are autonomic, taking place without any subjective “feeling” driving them. As we move through the 21st century animal behavior science is gaining new traction. As stewards of a variety of our animal kingdom cousins, scientists believe it’s vital that we understand the conscious capacity within them, in an effort to understand how to better create a comfortable life in captivity. Notions about animal consciousness and feeling are often very different when looking at various species. For example, people often view the conscious capacity of dogs or cats, different than that of snakes or spiders. As science progresses, allowing for physical representations of conscious functions to be measured (using MRI and brain scans) we are learning that animals likely experience a vast array of subjective emotions, and species that lack a neocortex (such as fish) use different physiological features and organs to serve the same role. Pain and fish: This topic has been a scientific taboo for many years. Since fish lack many of the brain sectors associated with pain, discomfort and self-awareness, researchers simply assumed all their behavior was autonomic, not unlike a comatose patient flinching when touched with ice. Yes, there were physical responses to stimulus, but they were merely instinctive and reactive, there was no thought and certainly no feeling behind them. 
Today however, further research has shown that while fish lack a neocortex, their lateral line system combined with other organs play an advanced role in fish behavior. Researchers first wanted to learn if marine fish would choose a positive action, over one that would cause pain. In this trial, fish were exposed to a mild electric shock when they performed a certain action. Performing the same action another way, didn’t result in electric shock. Very quickly, the fish learned that one action caused discomfort and the other didn’t. While it may seem like this isn’t any breakthrough, in reality it is. If fish simply functioned on instinctual behavior, without a feeling or memory of pain, then they would perform an action the same way over and over again, reacting to the stimuli when it took place. Their capacity to remember that this caused discomfort wouldn’t exist.… More:
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