writing / about / fish

Pipefish Syngnathus typhle are relatives of seahorses, and both species have rather unusual sex lives. Instead of the male donating sperm to the female, the female transfers eggs to the male; he then fertilises them and keeps them inside a pouch on his front. He is the one who is pregnant, and the one who gives birth.

writing / about / fish + migration

It’s not hard to tell which people in a train station have just travelled across the world: they are the ones wearing hats because their hair is a mess. Long-distance migratory birds like the red knot Calidris canutus also have a tough job looking good - and appearance is important, because having reached their arctic breeding grounds, they need feathers preened to perfection to be attractive to potential mates. But, as if the non-stop 5000km flight wasn’t enough to guarantee the avian equivalent of a bad hair day

writing / about / fish + vision

The sandlance Limnichthyes fasciatus is a small predatory fish, but its eyes have astonishing similarities to the eyes of land animals - chameleons in particular. Chameleon eyes are famous for being able to move independently of each other, but there are other remarkable features too, also shared by the sandlance, which John Pettigrew of the University of Queensland, Australia and colleagues have been investigating.

writing / about / fish + aggression + social-learning + competition

Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss are also masters of aquatic espionage, according to new research from Sweden. Because fights can result in serious injury or even cost them their lives, they find out what they’re letting themselves in for before wading in. Jörgen Johnsson and Anders Åkerman at the University of Göteborg watched what happened when juvenile trout who had observed other pairs fighting were matched against either the winner they had just watched or a fish from an unseen contest. When a trout had inside information as to its chances of winning, it became aggressive more quickly in fights it eventually won and surrendered earlier in fights that it lost.