fish species

Healthy Parents Provide Clues to Survival of Young Haddock

harminka — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:35:12 -0500

In 2003, haddock on Georges Bank experienced the largest baby boom ever documented for the stock, with an estimated 800 million new young fish entering the population.

Hibernation-like behavior in Antarctic fish on ice for winter

harminka — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:11:33 -0600

Scientists have discovered an Antarctic fish species that adopts a winter survival strategy similar to hibernation. Reporting this week in the journal PLoS ONE, the online journal from the Public Library of Science, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of Birmingham reveal, for the first time, that the Antarctic ‘cod’ Notothenia coriiceps effectively ‘puts itself on ice’ to survive the long Antarctic winter.

Butterfly fish may face extinction

harminka — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:25:32 -0600

A beautiful black, white and yellow butterflyfish, much admired by eco-tourists, divers and aquarium keepers alike, may be at risk of extinction, scientists have warned.

warm-water species are returning

harminka — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:06:54 -0600

Scientists studying ancient fish bones in Scandinavia have discovered that warm-water species like anchovies and black sea bream that once thrived in Danish waters during a prehistoric warm period are now returning.

Elephantnose fish 'see' with their chin

harminka — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:22:58 -0500

Originating in Central Africa, Peters' elephantnose fish (Gnathonemus petersii), finds its bearings by means of weak electrical fields. Scientists from the University of Bonn have now been able to show how well this works. In complete darkness the animals can even distinguish the material of objects at a distance or dead organisms from living ones.

Adaptation to parasites drive African fishes along evolutionary paths

harminka — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:16:11 -0500

An international team of scientists from Canada (Universitй Laval), the U.K. (University of Hull, Cardiff University) and Spain (Doтana Biological Station), have discovered that a pair of closely related species of East African cichlid fishes – a group of fish whose diversity comprising hundreds of species has puzzled evolutionary biologists for decades – evolved divergent immune gene adaptations which might explain why they do not interbreed, despite living side by side.

Reducing impact of fisheries on bycatch

harminka — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:10:53 -0500

According to one of the authors of a paper on the findings in the August edition of Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, CSIRO scientist Dr Chris Wilcox, a major challenge for fisheries worldwide is to reduce their impact on ‘bycatch’ species such as seabirds.

How to generate money to protect threatened species?

harminka — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:19:30 -0500

Fishing industry lines accidentally catch so many seabirds and turtles that their populations are being threatened. One solution offered by a Cornell researcher and an Australian government scientist is to assess fines when threatened species are caught and killed.

Fish species with resource polymorphism exhibit cannibalism

harminka — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:39:41 -0500

If you go fishing for Arctic char you may end up catching distinctly different-looking individuals although they were all caught in the same lake. Similarly, whitefish, threespine stickleback, and some sunfishes also display quite discrete groups living in the same lakes but utilizing different food resources in order to survive.

Over-fishing, Lack of Proper Management Cited

harminka — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:47:26 -0500

The first comprehensive assessment of the world's 162 species of grouper, a culinary favorite and important commercial fish, found that 20 are threatened with extinction unless proper management or conservation measures are introduced. Eight species previously were listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as under extinction threat, and the new assessment proposes adding 12 more.

New Species of Snapper Discovered in Brazil

harminka — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:09:03 -0500