#fish

Gamer’s Pet Fish Commits Credit Card Fraud While Playing His Nintendo SwitchThe fish was having a good time, but his owner, not so much.Japanese YouTuber Mutekimaru decided to install a sophisticated motion detection tracking software in his fishtanks, which allows his pets to “play” video games. This kind of content is what his channel was known for, actually. In a live stream, viewers not only get to enjoy a fish swimming around as it played Pokemon, but they also get a glimpse of how credit card fraud happens in real time. The fish was able to log on to the console’s e-store, change their owner’s avatar, and set up a PayPal account. It was also able to rack up a credit card bill that left viewers (and Mutekimaru) speechless. The content creator stepped away for a break when the game crashed and the console returned to the home screen. The fish carried on swimming in its tank, and due to the motion sensors, it could still continue to control the console. For seven hours, the pet fish was able to add 500 yen ($4) to Mutekimaru’s Switch account from his credit card. This is kind of in line with credit card fraud, as the fish did not have the YouTuber’s permission. It’s not like the poor thing can be admissible in court though, right?For now, Mutekimaru has revealed that his pet was able to expose his credit card details in the process. He has also said that he contacted Nintendo to ask for a refund for his 500 yen.Image credit: Mutekimaru#fraud #fish #motionsensors #gaming #YouTube #Nintendo #Pokemon
What Sound Does a Stingray Make?What does the stingray say? The Fish Thinkers Research Group has the answer. This video shows us three different stingrays, an adult mangrove whipray (Urogymnus granulatus), a juvenile mangrove whipray, and an adult cowtail stingray (Pastinachus ater). From the YouTube page:The sounds are characterised by short, sharp 'clicks' and likely serve as a warning or defence signal. Both species often form large groups, so it may alert others to potential danger, suggesting a role in intraspecific communication! The mechanism is still unclear 🤔 but it appears they are produced through rapid movement of the jaw or head and spiracles behind the eye.For all the time scientists have been studying these creatures, you'd have thought that they would have tried talking to them sooner. Next up, what sound does a shark make? Who wants to ask them? -via Boing Boing​#stingray #fish #sound
Fish Can Learn Basic MathFish may not be able to calculate complex stuff like us humans, but that doesn't mean that they can't learn math. This recent study reveals that fish, specifically bony cichlids and cartilaginous stingrays, can add and subtract small numbers. While this may be a surprise to many, the researchers were not surprised by the findings. Fish have already been shown to distinguish between relative quantities before. However, this study reveals how fish, without fingers, manipulate small numbers. Not all cichlids and stingrays finished their training. However, those who did are said to have "performed well above chance." This means that fish are not stupid, contrary to statements used to excuse awful fishing practices. (Image Credit: Schluessel et al. (2022)) #Math #Fish #AnimalWonders #Zoology
Ancient Egyptian Tomb Smells of Fish, Fruit and Beeswax BalmElectric fridges ain’t got nothing on Egyptian preservation technique.An assortment of delicacies kept inside an ancient Egyptian tomb dated 3,400 years ago was found to still be smelling fragrant when it was unearthed. The jars containing the food were left inside the tomb to nourish its inhabitants, spouses Kha — an Egyptian ‘chief of works’, or an architect — and Merit, his wife. According to experts, the unidentified ancient food still bears hints of fruity aroma, which they are going to analyze to determine conclusively.The 1906 discovery of the tomb in the Deir el-Medina necropolis near Luxor remains the most complete non-royal ancient burial ever found in Egypt, revealing important information about how high-ranking individuals were treated posthumously. Image: J. La Nasa et al./J. Archaeol. Sci#EgyptianTomb #Luxor #burial #smell #fish #fruit #beeswax
"Boops", "Honks", and "Hoots": Fish are Surprisingly Chatty by Communicating Underwater with SoundResearchers from Cornell University discovered that fish actually communicate with each other through sound. It is not new knowledge that fish actually emit different kinds of sound. However, with the development of technology, scientists have now confirmed that these aquatic creatures produce sounds for communication.Aaron Rice and his team analyzed the sound-producing physical characteristics (eg. swim bladder musculature) across different species and concluded that ancient sturgeons first started chatting around 155 million years ago. That is right around the same time that mammals began speaking with each other, too! Image credit: Hiroko Yoshii#fish #talk #animals #biology #sound #research
Fish Operated Vehicle: Scientists Train Goldfish to Drive on LandGoldfish can now drive!According to new research published in Behavioural Brain Research, these fish can be taught to drive a fish-operated vehicle (FOV). Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel subjected six goldfish to a number of 30-minute sessions in a makeshift FOV. The fish were then rewarded every time they reached a designated visual target, through their fish tank on wheels. According to co-author Ronen Segev, while this study isn’t the first to record and study ‘fish-machine interactions,’ it does provide more understanding on how different species can move through environments that are not for them. “These results demonstrate that the goldfish was able to transfer to a wholly different terrestrial environment and navigate successfully,” Segev said in his Twitter thread. One of the biggest takeaways? This study proves that just like humans, with the right amount of training and rewards, fish can also drive on land. Now that’s amazing! Image credit: Ben-Gurion University via Twitter/@ronen_segev#science #fish #research #driving
Barreleye Fish Has See-Through Transparent Heads and Tubular EyesThere are many unusual fish in the sea, but there’s one so bizarre that you’d have to see to believe it. Meet the barreleye fish or Macropinna microstoma, a deep-dwelling fish that has a transparent head. You read that right: the fish’s head is completely see-through!Like its name implies, the barreleye fish’s eyes are tubular or shaped like a barrel. They gaze up instead of to the front of its face. The unique placement of the eyes help the fish spot food and avoid predators.The two dark capsules in front of the barreleye fish’s face, which to us look like its eyes, are actually its olfactory organs. The fish usually sits motionless in the water, using its big fins for stability.Scientists think that the barreleye fish steals food from another strange marine animal called siphonophore, which has long tentacles. The fish would swim under the siphonophore and steal food from under it.Images: MBARI#DeepSeaAnimal #BarreleyeFish #fish #SeeThroughAnimal
Image Competition Winners Show the Diversity of Ecological ScienceThe image above by Kristen Brown shows a school of jackfish swimming in a spiral at the Great Barrier Reef. It was the overall winner in the 2021 photo competition from the scientific journal BMC Ecology and Evolution. The picture also won in the category Conservation Biology. The competition attracted entries from researchers all around the world eager to use their creativity to highlight their work and capture the diversity of the planet's flora and fauna. BMC Ecology and Evolution invited anyone affiliated with a research institution to submit to one of the following six categories: ‘Conservation Biology', 'Evolutionary Developmental Biology and Biodiversity', 'Behavioural Ecology', 'Human Evolution and Ecology', ‘Population Ecology' and 'Ecological Developmental Biology'.Our Senior Editorial Board Members lent their expertise to judge the entrants to the competition, selecting the overall winner, runner up and best image from each category. The board members considered the scientific story behind the photos submitted in addition to their artistic judgement (Fig. 1).#jackfish #fish #biology #photography #photocompetition
Aerial Fish Stocking: Utah Restocked Lakes by Dropping Thousands of Fish From an AirplaneIn the early days, the state of Utah used to stock lakes with fish by hauling small fish in metal milk cans on horseback, then by off-road vehicles and trucks.
Don't Release Pet Goldfish into Lakes: "They Grow Bigger Than You Think" and Threaten the EcosystemOfficials of the city of Burnsville, south of Minneapolis in Minnesota, implored the public not to release their pet goldfish into ponds and lakes."They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up bottom sediments and uprooting plants," the officials tweeted on Jul 9, 2021. They also added a few photos of giant goldfish that were recently caught in Keller Lake.According to Daryl Jacobson, natural resource manager for the city of Burnsville, people thought that the small goldfish in a home aquarium would remain that size in a lake. But they tend to match their environment and could grow much larger. "They are a tough species. They can survive under ice, with low oxygen and in unclear water," he added in an interview with USA Today.By the way, the largest goldfish caught in the wild was a 9 lb (4 kg) goldfish caught in South Carolina in 2020.#lake #goldfish #fish #ecosystem #invasivespecies
Glass Octopus and Other Strange Marine Creatures Captured on Camera During a Scientific Deep-Sea DiveScientists aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor went on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive in the Phoenix Islands Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean and found this beauty: a glass octopus.The glass octopus or Vitreledonella richardi is a rare species of octopus that gets its name from its ability to being almost completely transparent. The only parts that aren't transparent are its optic nerve, eyeballs and digestive tract. It is one of the least studied octopus, with most specimens known to scientists being found in the stomachs of predators.The yellow dots in the glass octopus' skin between its arms are chromatophores, or pigmented organs that let the octopus change colors for camouflage.via Schmidt Ocean​
Realistic Robot Fish Shaped Like an ArowanaBesides displaying just the usual weapons and other military equipment, this year's Beijing Military Expo also had an eerily realistic arowana fish robot that swims and behaves just like the real thing.From OddityCentral:It would swim around normally, and raise its head for a while whenever it reached a wall, then just wing its tail again and swim in another direction. At first glance, its appearance and movements were those of an actual fish, and it was only on close inspection that one realized this was an advanced fish-like robot.#fish #robot #arowana #tail