Mars Fishcare, owner of Rena, Aquarian and API, is pulling out of aquarium production and sales due to increased competition in the aquarium market. “Mars Fishcare Europe is taking steps to refocus its European business in aquarium equipment and water treatment, and to strengthen its position in the European fish food market,
Chinese ichthyologists Yang, Chen and Yang have described three new species of snow trout in a paper[1] published in the journal Zootaxa[2]. All three species have been described from material previously identified as one single species, Schizothorax griseus. True trouts belong to the Salmoninae subfamily in the Salmonidae family, but snow trouts are members of…
Remember the strange fish discovered by divers off the Indonesian coast in January 2008? This fish has now been scientifically described and given the official name Histiophryne psychedelica. Well, what else would you call a fish that that looks like this and moves like it was permanently and irrevocably under the influence?
War on clams has been declared at Lake Tahoe, a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the United States. Scuba divers have been enrolled in a 400,000 USD project aiming to completely rid the lake of all Asian clams. The anti-clam endeavour is scheduled to begin in mid-March and is a combined…
A new disease has been discovered; a disease that effects both Leafy seadragons (Phycodurus eques) and Weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). The disease, which as now been described by veterinary pathologists, is a type of melanised fungus that causes extensive lesions and necrosis of the gills, kidneys and other areas of the body in seadragons. The…
The Census of Marine Life[1] has now documented 7,500 species from the Antarctic and 5,500 species from the Arctic. A majority of the species encountered by the census was previously known by science, but at least a few hundred species are believed to be entirely new discoveries. Researchers did for instance encounter an impressive amount…
This Thursday, the Anchorage-based North Pacific Fishery Management Council[1] approved an unprecedented plan to ban commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean, as a part of their Arctic Fishery Management Plan. The council voted 11-0 in favour of the plan, which essentially bans all commercial fishing from the Canadian border down to the Bering Strait, and…
A new species of catfish belonging to the genus Lithogenes has been described by ichthyologists Scott Schaefer and Francisco Provenzano in a recent issue of the journal American Museum Novitates[1]. The new fish has been given the name Lithogenes wahari…
The cichlid genus Crenicichla now has two new described members: Crenicichla tesay and Crenicichla mandelburgeri.
The hydrothermal vents that line the mid-ocean ridges are a major source of iron for the creatures living in the sea. Humans are not the only ones who suffer when iron becomes scarce; creatures such as phytoplankton are known to grow listless in waters low in iron, even if they are drifting around in an…
I always enjoy seeing new marine and freshwater blogs emerging and in an attempt to support one new blogs I welcome David Shiffman as a guest author: Hello! My name is David, and I’m new to the world of science blogging. I’m a graduate student in Charleston, South Carolina, and my research focuses on shark…
Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest lake and the world’s largest tropical lake, has long been plighted by environmental problems caused by pollution and exotic species being introduced to the lake. On of the most well know of these problems was the introduction of Nile perch to the lake; a large predatory fish that all…
Zoology Prof. Yossi Loya at the Tel Aviv University in Israel has discovered that corals changes sex to survive periods of stress, such as high water temperatures. By observing the behaviour of Japanese sea corals he discovered that stressed female mushroom coral (fungiid coral) change gender to become males, and that male corals are much…
This year, fishermen in the southern ocean of Australia report seeing more tuna than in 20 years. They report not only bigger catches, but also that the average tuna is about 20% lager than previous years.
The oceans of the world absorb a large part of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by us burning fossil fuels, burning forests to make room for fields, etc. This have helped slow down global warming, but new studies shows that it might have a devastating effects on certain fish species such as clown…
The yearly manatee count revealed a record number of manatees this year. The survey counted 3807 manatees which is about 500 more than the previous record from 2001……..
Indonesia will allow trawling in selected areas for the first time in 30 years, maritime ministry official Bambang Sutejo announced on January 15. Trawling will be allowed off four areas of Indonesia East Kalimantan province, despite concerns about overfishing. “There will not be overfishing this time as we’re only allowing small boats to trawl, and…
On January 22, 48 sperm whales were found stranded on Perkins Island, off the northwest coast of Tasmania, Australia Despite efforts to rescue the whales, only five specimens were alive by late Friday and three of them died during the night. Rescuers now hope that at least these two whales will be able to return…
New research has revealed that the tapetail, bignose and whalefish are in fact all the same fish. For decades, three different names have been used for three very different looking underwater creatures: the Tapetail, the Bignose and the Whalefish. A team of seven scientists*, including Smithsonian curator Dr Dave Johnson, has now discovered that these…
The Suffolk Police has decided to call off their investigation into the mysterious disappearance of 27 koi and seven goldfish, since the culprit turned out to be a hungry heron.
Bristol Zoo Gardens have bred the rare Asian Arowana (Scleropages formosus). The spawning resulted in 15 fry which are now estimated to be nine weeks old. The staff did not witness the spawning which is why they can only estimate the age of the fry for this mouth-breeding species. It is not the first time…
Sri Lankan scientists have described a new species of fish from south-western Sri Lanka and placed in the genus Puntius. Unlike its close relatives in Sri Lanka and India, the new species Puntius kelumi feature a combination of a smooth last unbranched dorsal-fin ray………….
A research group[1] studying the hunting ability of the great white shark has found evidence indicating that this notorious predator actually has a fairly weak bite. In several movies – including the legendary Spielberg film “Jaws” – the great white shark has been portrayed as a hunter blessed with an exceptionally strong bite, but the…
According to its keeper Barbara Woodford, 61, of Gloucester, the goldfish Ginger managed to survive for 13 hours on the floor behind a cupboard after leaping out of its bowl during the night or early in the morning. When Woodford woke up at 7 am, she found the bowl empty and started to look for…
Former Italian Navy diver Pino Termini of Naples claims to have seen the ghost of Steve Irwin while diving at Batt Reef in tropical North Queensland. Batt Reef is a coral reef off Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia and a part the Great Barrier Reef. “As I started my dive I saw somebody and was…
A group of scientists from the Catalyst One expedition has discovered three previously unknown coral reefs 35 miles of the coast of Florida. The coral reefs consist mainly of Lophelia coral and are located at a depth of 450 metres (1475 feet). Lophelia pertusa is a cold-water coral famous for its lack of zooxanthellae.
Scientists from three different European countries – Norway, Belgium and the UK – are now launching a new research project where the aim is to find out if cods can feel pain or not. “Most people agree that mammals and birds can feel pain, but people are less sure about fish,” says project leader Øyvind…
Sorry for the silence over Halloween. Posting will now hopefully return to normal with at least one post every or every other day. This first post will be somewhat of a link post catching up on some of the fishy news that happened last week.
A ROV (remote operated vehicle) owned and operated by the oil company Shell have caught video of a very rare squid while filming a mile and a half (two and a half kilometers) underwater on the drilling site known as Perdido in the gulf of Mexico. The squid known as a Magnapinna squid has a…
Time to announce a new WordPress Theme. This theme is nautical inspired and I rather like it. It is simple and ideal for any water or boating related blogs as well as historical blogs. The theme has been designed with Adsense and other ads in mind.
Wild-caught pets are often recommended against, since the harvest of wild caught specimen may deplete wild populations. In the Brazilian rainforest, the harvesting of popular aquarium species such as cardinal tetras have however helped prevent deforestation and made it possible for local residents to earn a living without resorting to logging, mining, cattle ranching, and…
A new wordpress theme. It is a very simple theme in black, white ad grey. The theme is Adsense ready.
Rare coral species may be saving themselves from extinction by hybridising with other coral species, says Australian scientist Zoe Richards. Richards and his colleagues have studied 14 rare[1] and eight common coral species of the genus Acropora in the Indo-Pacific. In order to find out more about hybridisation among corals, the team did a phylogenetic…
Vast amounts of creatures looking like jelly balls have begun to appear off the eastern coast of Australia, and researchers now suspect that these animals may help slow down global warming by moving carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean floor. The proper English name for this “jelly ball” being is salp. A salp…
A six-month long investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) has led to the arrest of seven adults and one juvenile in Tampa. The arrested persons are believed to have been involved in various illegal activates concerning marine life, including catching protected sharks, sea horses, peppermint shrimp and bay scallops in Floridian waters,…