Fish Lives in Logs, Breathing Air, for Months at a Time

A mangrove rivulus peers out from a rotted-out log.

Scientists have now found that this fish, already famed for its bizarre sex habits and ability to survive extreme conditions, does something never seen before: hangs out inside deadwood for months at a time to survive dry spells.

Photograph by Ben Chapman

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/93334015.html

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A tiny Western Atlantic fish does something never before seen: It makes like a bird, living in mangrove wood for months at a time.

A team of U.S. and English scientists accidentally discovered the unique behavior, which they call "logpacking," during recent excursions to Belize and Florida.

They were studying how the mangrove rivulus—an animal already infamous for its bizarre sexual behavior—survived the frequent dry spells that strike its swampy forest habitat.

"One of us kicked at a log, which broke apart and out came the fish!" said team leader Scott Taylor of Brevard County, Florida's Environmentally Endangered Lands Program.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071106-tree-fish.html

หนานโตน  [ 07 พ.ย. 2550 22:21:59 ]