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Sea Life Centre - Loch Lomond Announces Top 10 Flirty Fish
Loch Lomand, UK - Not even the grandest of romantic gestures this Valentine’s Day are likely to compare with some of the strangest amorous exploits of the marine world. Sea Life Centres have drawn up a top-ten league table of fishy flirts with which to amaze their Valentine’s Day visitors. The list includes the seductive male seahorse, who woos his ladyfriend with a spot of tail-twining; the male three-spined stickleback who turns red with fiery passion, and the male shark, who signals his interest with a love-bite to the neck. Yet even these fascinating antics appear a bit tame when compared with the mating ritual of many male crabs. “A king crab or a blue crab, for example, will gently cradle his mate beneath him and carry her round for maybe three days before they get it together,” said Sea Life marine expert Mark Hind. “His reward is a coupling that lasts anything between five and 11 hours.”
The male is therefore guarding her while she is most vulnerable, and he goes on carrying her after the act until her new shell has hardened and she can safely go her own way. “He may be a bit of a hard-case, but the male crab is no ‘love’em’ and leave’em’ scoundrel,” said Mark. Even more remarkable, perhaps, is the mating spectacle that hundreds of people line a few specific beaches in southern California to watch every spring. It involves a fish called the grunion, which is the only species to lay its eggs out of the water! Thousands of female grunions arrive on an in-rushing wave and as it retreats perform a dance standing on their tails, at the same time digging a small hole and depositing their eggs.
This whole elaborate ritual takes no longer than 30 seconds, but is repeated many times over the course of the spring and early summer. Moray eels are better known for their razor sharp teeth than their romantic nature, but actually they are among the most affectionate of sea creatures. “They are quite shy, and their courtship is not often witnessed,” said Mark, “but those who have seen it describe a very moving scene in which they weave from side to side facing each other with mouths wide open before coiling their bodies together in a loving embrace.” As one thrilled observer noted… ‘that’s a moray!’ Many would be surprised to learn that the silent world beneath the waves is not always so silent when love is in the…water! Closely related toadfish and midshipmen fish off the northwest US and Canadian coasts use a variety of sounds to both attract mates and scare off rivals. “Scientists believe these fish provide evidence that vocal noises first evolved beneath the seas some 400 million years ago,” said Mark Hind. “In both species the males lure females to nest with a deep baritone hum, but defend their territory with a more aggressive grunt.” The sea bass, a favourite in many a seafood restaurant, also employs sound to attract a partner. The male rapidly beats the gill-covers on the side of his head to produce rhythmical groups of notes. The beautiful mandarin fish behaves in a slightly more adolescent fashion in his endeavours to cut a dash. “Groups of two or three males will basically hang around the coral reef equivalent of street corners strutting their stuff in the hope that the girls will fall at their fins,” said Mark. But it is a common British species the dragonet which is Mark’s personal favourite in the love stakes. “It helps that they’re incredibly colourful fish to start with,” he explained, “and the male uses his bright colours to good effect when trying to impress the object of his desires.” “He’ll keep backing off and repeating this approach until the female can resist no longer, and she will then rise up and the pair will rise vertically through the water, belly to belly. “At a certain moment they will simultaneously release eggs and sperm so that the eggs are fertilised before they drift away on the current. “It’s really magical to see,” said Mark. So, the full Top Ten of fishy flirtations is: 1. The dragonet ballet |
By Emma McDougall
The reason for this strange rite is that females need to moult their hard shell before mating is possible.
The males then copy the dance and fertilise the eggs…before the next wave washes the happy couples back out to sea again.
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Irresponsible Board of Management
Maybe , just maybe The Toronto Zoo Board Is In The Middle Of A Financial Crisis And There Is No Place To Go But To City Council like a wayward son go to Mom and Dad for more money...
Although it was made clear by Shelley Carroll (the City's Budget Chief) that the Toronto Zoo has to behave more financially responsible, perhaps the problem is that there is no place else to go. The $250 Million fund-raising plans are a pipe dream (especially after firing the Zoo Foundation), it is not possible to raise admission prices any longer (or face a significant drop in attendance) and the "junkets" (especially to China for the Giant Pandas) by members of the Zoo Board can not be cut significantly for any reason. In other words, there is no place to go but City Council. What a crock! The Toronto Zoo Board needs a reality check, as it has become clear that they do not understand the problems they are facing. Perhaps the thousands of free Zoo passes given to Councillors on the Zoo Board could be cut to zero, perhaps the Zoo Foundation could be re-instated, and perhaps a citizen's advisory committee could be formed to provide much-needed guidance to the existing members of the Board.
This is Proof positive
that citizens should have more direct say in the budget process. Line item veto by a citizen's budget committee might get the desired cuts we must attain. The citizens of Toronto should stand with one voice that we just won't allow a property tax increase this year.
By Latinoboy in TORONTO
Ethyl Mercaptan
I would be quite interested in any reference you might have to the presence of ethyl mercaptan in carrion. Most literature indicates that dimethyl sulfide and methyl mercaptan are the sulfur containing entities involved. I had also thought that vultures, like many carrion eating and inhabiting species (flies, etc) were attracted to the rather bad smell of the nitrogenous materials (cadaverine, putresceine, etc) produced during decomposition.
Ant farms
Very nice ant exhibit! I wrote a small ant farm post with a reference to your article.
Train Business Directory Available for Visitors
A "Train Business Directory" shows over 850 locations near all of the Portland MAX light rail at PortlandLightRail.net.
Happy Birthday, Boomer!
You are a great ambassador for your cousins in the wild, Boomer!
Orangutans are critically endangered because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations.
If nothing is done to protect orangutans, they could be extinct in just a few years!
Your fans can visit the Orangutan Outreach website to make a difference!
Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!
Facebook Cause: http://causes.com/redapes
Venemous snakes?
What is it with people that want to exterminate venemous snakes? If they weren't an integral part of the food chain and ecosystem, they wouldn't be here! Evolution and natural selection has chosen them as survivors! The fact that they are "harmful" to humans is only a result of humans encroaching on their territories and habitats. Be mindful of your surroundings and situation and you can safely live with the so called "harmful" species that we share this planet with!
Local wildlife day
Good luck with the event. We have some fabulous wildlife in Devon that's really worth celebrating. We recently had a botanical survey of our small Devon nature reserve, which recorded more than 180 species in about 3.5 acres. And even more amazing was the depth of local knowledge the visiting naturalists had to share - on everything from obscure moths to lichens.
Local wildlife day
Good luck with the event. We have some fabulous wildlife in Devon that's really worth celebrating. We recently had a botanical survey of our small Devon nature reserve, which recorded more than 180 species in about 3.5 acres. And even more amazing was the depth of local knowledge the visiting naturalists had to share - on everything from obscure moths to lichens.
Sadly, a lack of common sense is the trend
What is sad to me is the lack of common sense regarding venomous snakes that seems to becoming more commonplace.
It has become trendy for government agencies to defend venomous snakes, saying they kill rodents, etc., but non-venomous snakes also kill rodents. I have not heard one logical argument as to what a venomous snake contributes to an ecosystem that a non-venomous snake doesn't.
Any non-biased biologist can affirm species extinction has always happened naturally. It's common sense to kill a venomous snake, rather than let it continue breeding and increase the potential for harm.
The unfortunate consequence of naturalists defending venomous snakes is they make them appear so necessary and harmless that both people and agencies--hospitals, for example--do not expect or prepare for snake encounters.
It's doubtful that many hospitals near the snakes stock the expensive antivenin. Governments should help fund snakebite treatment rather than fund snake protection.
Skype Usage
Very cool and novel way to use Skype. Glad to see that people are thinking outside the box with its collaborative application. If it's not too late, you may want to submit this to Skype as a good use of their software for the Skype in business contest they're running.
Shawn
OnState Communications
Word Oceans Day - June 8
And don't forget to "Wear Blue and Tell Two"
Another great way to celebrate World Oceans Day is to wear blue in honor of the ocean and tell people two things they likely don't know about the ocean and two ways they can take action. For more Information check out this website:
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