MetaFilter posts tagged with fish and science

The tale of the coelacanth

WhySharksMatter — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:47:57 -0800

The amazing story of the coelacanth is one of the wonders of the living world that inspires marine biologists such myself. Coelacanths, part of the offshoot lineage of fishes known as "lobed finned ", are very different from typical "ray finned" fishes that you usually think of. Their bizarre lobed fins are thought to be an intermediate step between fish fins and amphibian legs. Scientists had known that these weird fish existed because of fossils for over a century, but we believed that they went extinct 65 million years ago... until a South African fisherman caught one in 1938. Though the fisherman didn't know exactly what he had caught, he knew that it was noteworthy enough to save and bring to the museum in his small fishing village of East London. The head of the museum was Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, who contacted a famous South African fish biologist named J. L. B. Smith. Smith originally named the genus Malania after the South African prime minister who gave him money to search for more coelacanths, but since prime minister Malan was also the architect of apartheid, the name was eventually changed to Latimeria after the head of the East London Museum (the full scientific name is now Latimeria chalumnae, for the Chalum river where the fish was caught). Despite intensive searching and a large reward, it was almost 15 years before a second specimen was found. We now know a little bit more about this fascinating species. They can grow to larger than six feet in length and can weight up to 200 pounds. They have rough scales unlike most other existing fish species. They have internal egg fertilization, but the eggs hatch inside the mother and the young are born alive. They usually live in the deep sea, over 2,000 feet below the surface. Most alarming of all is that scientists estimate a population of only around 1,000 individuals, making coelacanths one of the most endangered animals on Earth. They survived for tens of millions of years after the dinosaurs went extinct, but they now face extinction in our lifetimes. I'll share with you a thought that keeps myself and other marine biologists going during times when the job seems rough... if it took us until 1938 to find the coelacanth, what else is down there?

World's Oldest Penis

Dilemma — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:00:08 -0800

Australian scientists have found the world's oldest penis. Published Monday in the online version of Nature, the discovery of the 400 million-year-old clasper in an ancient fish specimen shows that animals were gettin' it on earlier than previously thought. Says one study author, "We were surprised because it's so big. We were expecting something smaller." SFW

Strange New Fish May See Like Humans

chuckdarwin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:35:24 -0800

A fish with forward facing eyes has been discovered in Indonesia. University of Washington fish expert Ted Pietsch thinks that the fish is probably a member of a previously undiscovered family of lure-less anglerfish.

Every cloud has a silver lining, and some sub-ice seas have orange starfish

easternblot — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:29:19 -0800

After two big Antarctic ice shelves broke off several years ago, a world of new species was found underneath. Pictures and a press release came out yesterday, showing spindly orange starfish among other interesting creatures. Here is some more information on the expedition. The fact that the shelves melted when they did is most likely a result of global warming, but having them out of the way gave researchers a golden opportunity to study what lives beneath the ice. Other occassions where a disaster has simultaneously been a great research opportunity include radioactive fallouts: at Chernobyl the evacuated area has been monitored for the past decades to see which species move in and how they thrive (previously on Metafilter)

White Shark Released

rodo — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 13:41:19 -0800

White Shark Released from Monterey Bay Aquarium after six months in captivity. In the last week, aquarists noted several incidents of what they considered to be active hunting of other exhibit animals, and they became substantially more concerned about the well-being of the other fishes. She was not released because of any injury or health problem. At the time of her release, she was 6'-4" long and weighed 162 pounds.

Our glowing undersea friends.

lychee — Wed, 12 May 2004 23:01:31 -0800

Cuter than a fangtooth. Beautiful images of bioluminescent sea creatures. Learn the difference between fluorescence, phosphorescence, and bioluminescence, as well as the science behind the amazing chemical reaction. (I like the floppy-eared one the best--okay, the plastic bag looking one is nifty too.)

jpoulos — Thu, 08 Feb 2001 09:41:33 -0800

Blind cod, netted 40 times, retires to aquarium.

prolific — Thu, 17 Feb 2000 00:38:12 -0800

And thanks to all the fish? British researchers say fans of loud music may be responding to a 'pleasure-inducing hearing mechanism' passed down through evolution from fish to humans. Well, slap me with a large trout!