Scientists were surprised to find that while the fish followed both divers equally on the first day, the number of fish following Ms Soller increased significantly from day two.
In the first phase of the experiments, study co-author Katinka Soller attempted to attract the attention of local fish by wearing a bright red vest, and fed fish while swimming a length of 50m.
The study, published in the journal Biology Letters on Tuesday, found that some wild fish can use visual cues to identify specific humans even when their faces are covered by diving gear.
After 12 days of training, 20 fish followed Ms Soller, who could recognise several of the fish from their physical traits.
In the next experimental phase, researchers tested if these same fish could tell Soller apart from another diver, study senior author Maëlan Tomasek.
