In a study published in BMC Public Health, an open access journal, tilapia was introduced into abandoned fish ponds at an altitude of 1,880m and the effect measured over six months on the numbers of mosquito immatures.
For centuries, the Zoque people of southern Mexico would venture each year during the Easter season deep into the sulfuric cave Cueva del Azufre to implore their deities for a bountiful rain season.
As part of the annual ritual, they release into the cave's waters a distinctive, leaf-bound paste made of lime and the ground-up root of the barbasco plant, a natural fish toxin. Believing the cave's fish to be gifts from their gods, they scoop up their poisoned prey to feed upon until their crops are ready to harvest.
Discovery of prehistoric remains in the Yucatan.
Small groups of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) reach consensus when choosing which of two replica fish to follow. As group size increases, the fish make more accurate decisions.
"It turned out that stickleback fish preferred to follow larger over smaller leaders," said Ashley Ward of Sydney University
"Not only that, but they also preferred fat over thin, healthy over ill, and so on. The part that really caught our eye was that these preferences grew as the group size increased, through some kind of positive social feedback mechanism."
