Remember the movie, "Finding Nemo?" If you do, you may recall Nemo wanted to play but his father wouldn't let him.

A new study says some fish species do play and have fun just like other animals.

Researchers Vladimir Dinets and James Murphy of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Gordon Burghardt from the University of Tennessee studied cichlids, a species of freshwater tropical fish and discovered these species want to play with objects.

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Three male cichlids were studied and filmed for two years. The researchers based the behavior of fish on Gordon Burghardt's definition of play (which must conform to five criteria for all animals, including humans).

The report said the fish attacked a thermometer in a tank repeatedly and researchers considered this play.

"Play is repeated behavior that is incompletely functional in the context or at the age in which it is performed and is initiated voluntarily when the animal or person is in a relaxed or low-stress setting," said Burghardt.

The definition of play also includes reptiles, wasps and other invertebrates now tagged as players.

This suggests fish behavior is described as a "quick righting response" present in other animals.

When the male fish aren't playing, they start fighting each other. The size of their mouths is the basis to distinguish playing from fighting.

He said this study can help in explaining the psychology of play and how it integrates into evolutionary history.

Tags cichlids male fish