ABSTRACT
Studies of piscine cognition have shown that a fish’s mind is hard to find. Although fish keep their brains behind their faces their sensory faculties are distributed along their bodies and tucked away in surprising nooks and crannies. In all of the natural histories of fish from the middle of the sixteenth century there is a striking emphasis on geography. Fishers consistently emphasize the problems of visual apprehension as they reckon with depths that can both magnify and distort their contents. The wildflowers, formidable trees, and sweet breezes of early modern romance are all found in contemporary descriptions of sportfishing, but anglers also delight in things that others would rather avoid. Fish biologists consider the distinctions among various water systems when they describe a piscine population as anadromous, catadromous, or non-migratory. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
