Video shows electric eels hunting in groups
Zoologist Douglas Bastos from the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil, and his team have captured video footage of Volta’s electric eels hunting in groups of more than 100.
Research shows reef fish larvae dispersed differently
Coral reef fish start their lives as small, transparent larvae. After they hatch, they join a swirling sea of plankton and frequently get dispersed to different reefs due to ocean currents, waves and the wind.
In this study, the scientists did seven years of surveys focussing on the Clark’s anemonefish, measuring how the dispersal of larvae varied over the years and seasonally. They discovered that the larvae dispersal varied immensely on both these timescales.
Fish thrive on WWII shipwrecks
In 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) undertook a closer examination of the wrecks of the German U-boat U-576 and the Nicaraguan freighter SS Bluefields, using glass-domed submersibles. The two historically significant and deep (200m) shipwrecks sank near one another on the continental shelf of North Carolina, USA, during World War II.
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The Fabulous Spawning Ritual of Striated Surgeonfish
During a seven-year study of reef sharks in Tahiti, ethologist Ila France Porcher also observed the behaviours of various fish species. Here, she offers a detailed description and insights into the dynamic and mesmerising spawning events of the striated surgeonfish, which take place every year in the South Pacific.
River Rhône
—Diving in the French river Rhône with European catfish
The Rhône is a large French river, which is 545km long. It flows from the Alps, across Lake Geneva and joins the Mediterranean Sea. Cloudy in appearance, as if to preserve her secrets, it is difficult to have strong views about this type of river
Seeking Eye Contact: Fish Gaze Reveals Self-Awareness
For many years, I held a weekly feeding session for the resident reef sharks and their visitors in the study area where I observed their behaviour. If I had enough shark food, I would scatter crumbs into the water for the fish after the sharks had left. The fish knew this, so they had to wait, and while they were waiting, they were excited.
Just how "green" are fish fingers?
According to a new study published in the Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene journal, the processing of Alaskan pollock into fish sticks, imitation crab, and fish fillets generates nearly twice the emissions produced by fishing itself.
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Selective fishing of larger parrotfish lets algae flourish
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered that when fishermen selectively catch large and medium-sized parrotfish at coral reefs facing decline due to climate change, algae has a better chance of growing and overtaking the corals.
Nonetheless, according to the research, the reef’s biomass is maintained. This is because even with less of the large and medium-sized parrotfish, there would be many smaller parrotfish that would take their place.
The Remarkable Intelligence of Fish
Fish reveal such complex thinking in their daily lives that they could not possibly be as simple-minded as fishermen claim.
A Matter of Sentience
Fish feel pain, or don’t they? Despite a growing body of sound evidence that fish do indeed feel pain and are sentient beings capable of all the types of cognition found in the “higher” mammals, with the possible sole exception of the ability to imitate, a group of critics seems to systematically seek to discredit this research. But for what reasons? Ila France Porcher takes a closer look at the stakes involved.