#misunderstood fishes

[aquariuminfobureau]

Although the South American knifefish called an electric eel, is now the archetypal electric fish in the western mind, the Egyptians and Greeks long before knew of electric catfishes in Africa. These fish had such a cultural impact in antiquity, that a renowned pharaoh took the name Barmer, or 'electric catfish', as his throne name. Ichthyologists and aquarists also have an interest in the electric or malapterurid catfishes. Unfortunately they are taxonomically confusing to scientists, and related confusions might account for contradictions and falsehoods in the care related information, that is produced for fishkeepers.

Although many people assume any electric catfish belongs to the type species, it seems that most of them (at least recent imports) are Malapterurus beninensis, the Benin electric catfish, imported from Nigeria. This is a much smaller animal than the otherwise similar type species, M. electricus, which is present in the Nile and amazed the ancients with its then inexplicable powers. M. beninensis is a Guineo-Congolian species from the rivers, streams, lakes, marshes and swamps in the tropical lowlands of western and central Africa, distributed from the lower Volta to Chiloango systems. This species grows to around 22 centimeters, or 9 inches long.

Despite their obvious specializations including their impressive electrical organ, the Afrotropical malapterurids have remained, in many ways, an anatomically protomorohic group. Genetic analyses have not really cast much light on their more precise relationships to other catfish groups. Anatomically they resemble clades such as the silurids and the auchenoglanids. Though there are now recognised to be many more species of malapterurid than was once thought to be the case, they do not have much disparity of form and function, as is seen in some of the other catfish clades. That is to say that they have not been changed much by further evolution, being very efficient at their lifestyles as electric predators.

Like other species in Malapterurus, M. beninensis is a nocturnal and passive carnivore, that needs wood and maybe rocks to hide among in the aquarium. Fishes of this genus are averse to strong water flow, though they have a reputation, as a group, for being adaptable and indifferent to matters of harness and pH. In the wild, M. beninensis usually inhabits waters with a pH between 6.5 and 7; on a seasonal basis, it may ascend as high as close to 8, or drop closer to 6 at some localities. But it is basically a fish of circumneutral waters, leaning toward soft and acidic conditions. The temperature of the water is naturally similar to that of our tropical tanks, for example, from 26 to 29 degrees centigrade is appropriate.

Although M. beninensis has a potentially lethal shock, it is not inclined to use it except defensively or in search of food. As long as other fish will not bother them, and are also too large to be hunted by them as food, they are tolerated by these slow swimming catfishes. which are strictly bottom dwellers. If in doubt accommodate them only with species that will not compete with them for spatial use, for example, not with other demersal or benthopelagic fishes. Or those likely to shelter in the same location. Their own diet is meaty chunks, either defrosted or fresh pieces from the fishmongers. Some individuals will take to eating proprietary sinking foods for carnivorous fish.

There are in fact a few species of Malapterurus but the basic care is the same, though they vary in such details as their mature sizes. Not all come from the same African waters, and they may have different needs and preferences. The mighty M. electricus for example, grows to over 120 centimeters, or 48 inches, and based upon wild habitats, should prefer harder and more alkaline water, perhaps up to a pH of about 8. It isn't always clear which species has been imported, even to the eye of an ichthyologist, but their locations of origin, if they are known, ought to at least be a clue to their best care.

[sp0np]

Drew angelina jolie fish and the other one as girlfriends because fuck oscar.

The only reason she’s a gold digger is cuz she likes girls and angie deserves better so i’m giving her a hot girlfriend thank you for coming to my ted talk

[anzuhan]

Hey do you like the blue and purple?

like. the colors ???

sumi loves all colors and tries to utilize them all as best as possible to show the world there are no ugly colors; in fact, sumi has a story up on insta back in 2021 asking people ab what color or color combo they thought is the ugliest and sumi went on to make a couple drawings with them :)

well these are old and sumi could absolutely show their beauty more now ! but the point remains the same

sumi feels right now purple is an easy color to default to due to it being a good combo with lots and almost all of them ! so a lot more drawings end up being purpley </3 but in case of the very thing sumi is drawing has more predominant warm colors or something else, sumi does try to utilize different ones for this reason ! its not fully a matter of preference of purples and blues

sumi also doesnt have a favorite color, but if you really need an answer itd be like a chromatic pale purple to gray, like dvds ! they dont hold just one color to them, and even then their purply gray shade in general is awesome too !!

[neonfretra]

i realize keeping fish is not very universal so here are some fish behaviors that i think are funny ^_^

when they figure out the feeding schedule and start swimming around the surface around meal time

when they get in a fight for a single flake of food and chase each other around and snatch it out of each others mouth. while another flake sinks. right next to them. little stupid <3

when they see me outside of the expected feeding time and scatter. fake fans :(

in the exact opposite direction, when they see me and come out because they know i have food :)

when they swim weird and give me a heart attack but theyre just trying to eat algae off the tank decor

or food that sinks

used to have bigger fish that liked to dig and scare me with the areas they would hide in. but it was cute :) had one that had this little hole he would slide in and out of by going horizontal . i didnt know they could do that .

when they hide and peek their head out a little bit! hello there i dont see you!

when there are active fish! most similar to people watching IMO. old man (albino cory catfish) moves up and down a lot this is normal behavior ^_^ im serious hes healthy hes just doing exercise in the park

you can see more active behavior in territorial fish too BUT they will require a bigger tank (and other things..! depends on the species) . for the territory you see .they chase each other sometimes . usually when they are establishing territories and dominance when there are new fish or a water change/redeccorration from knocking stuff over and putting it back up . they had different favorites!

when they school ^_^ its really pretty to watch them i <3 schooling fish

[javierduffy]

kieran and javier finding moments or even seconds of domestic bliss in canon pls

my friend i have scoured, deep sea dived, deep cleaned, poker all-inned and i have never once in my rdr2 career ever been able to find a positive interaction between them in canon. i didn’t think they even had ANY for the longest time until someone found one and its literally javier threatening kieran … which i would personally not categorize as “domestic bliss”. i think our best bet for canon content is crossing our fingers and praying that the ai for them in camp has them sit next to each other momentarily

[rutadales]

This is a PSA!! If ur writing shark hybrid c!foolish, first off: I love you. Second off: don't just write him as a dog!!

He wouldn't growl! sharks lack organs capable of making sounds! (mute!foolish time baby!) Have him eat raw fish, that's always super fun! Oh, since there are turtles in Minecraft, great whites will bite the flippers to immobilize them, take this detail and run. They also hunt most often in the morning, morning person foolish real?? Oh oh since there are also dolphins in game, great whites will swim under or behind dolphins to avoid their echo location, please take this information and do with it what you will.

Great whites don't really fight with each other to resolve conflicts and GUESS WHO THAT SOUNDS LIKE!! Make him super curious!! He just. Bites shit when he doesn't know what it is. Have him just bite other dsmp members to try and figure out what they are upon first meeting. Draw or write him spy-hopping! just PLEASE give him actual shark traits please I'm begging I'm actively begging

[pharawee]

You're getting too close, nong. What are you doing?

LATER:

[frogfishwastaken]

Fish are smart and social and have memories and feel pain and people calling them stupid and using that as an excuse to treat them less humanely than other animals makes me so sad :(

For context, a biologist named Culum Brown has been doing fish research for years and has found that they are simply deeply misunderstood because the way they’re adapted to their aquatic environment is different from how terrestrial animals are adapted to land environments. People just see fish doing thing and don’t understand that it’s useful for survival in the deep sea. They don’t bother to observe them enough because of preconceived biases constructed by society’s portrayal of fish and our experiences on land.

(This has connections to the Bible and the hierarchy of animals established in it as well. I don’t think we realize the extent to which Western culture and Christianity have consciously and unconsciously shaped science.)

Despite the widespread and deeply pervasive myth that fish are dumb they actually have been proven to have the ability to remember how to evade traps even years after first learning how to do it and they can observe and learn from other fish and they have cultural transmission and friendships with fish they recognize and I’m going to cry

There’s also very little concern for fish welfare, since they aren’t beloved flagship species like dolphins or whales or seals, and generally they’ve been so poorly understood that people basically think of them as having the same level of sentience as plants. That is NOT TRUE and the conditions fish are subjected to before they die are FUCKING AWFUL and nobody’s out here protesting against that when there have been so many efforts to reduce the suffering of farm animals. Nobody ever really labels a can of tuna “free range’ but they’ll label it “dolphin safe” bc we’ve always cared more about the species that are similar to us.

And! Hot take! Maybe we shouldn’t associate intelligence with value in the first place! That has historically had some pretty awful implications for how we treat other humans based on how they are perceived or presented by people in power!

All this definitely has some sociological ties and implications.

[autodiscipline]

Whats your fave band from the KEY PARTY label? I ask because i feel like everyone has very similar answers…

aliene ma'riage of course. they are my #1, I'm a huge fan of kyouka's kitten vocals & attitude. his solo album is one of my all times as well

[spearxwind]

you what’s a really funny about me following you for and massively enjoying Challenger Deep?

i am Extremely Not Down with the open ocean and ocean creatures larger than a school bus. worst thing in the world to me. Bad Vibes. far too scary by far‚ i was scared

That's really valid! The truth is though that most creatures larger than a school bus won't really hurt you (on purpose at least), most creatures that can hurt you arent really larger than a school bus at all (sharks and orcas, mostly) and the grand majority of things that can hurt are usually the size of a football at most. Sperm whales however (bigger than a school bus) will kill you just with the loudness of their clicks in close proximity alone

Jokes aside though I do think it's worth learning about the ocean to find it a little less scary, the same way you can do with bugs to make them feel less scary. We fear the unknown a lot, and the ocean is very feared for this reason, so what better way to combat the fear than to learn about it? That is actually a huge part of why I try to share so much about the sea, Challenger Deep included

Yes, I do want it to be scary when necessary and bc ooooo scary sea monsters and sailor legends are cool as hell, but I don't want it to come at the cost of people fearing our ACTUAL oceans!

If you ever have the time, and ever feel like fearing the ocean a little less, I recommend maybe watching a few videos from the EV nautilus channel where they find cool creatures in the deep and excitedly talk about them! And you can see most of them literally just Chill Out at the bottom most of the time. Or even check out the really cool and educational posts by @mbari-blog where they showcase cool creatures and biomes :]

In the end the ocean isnt actually some hell dimension to fear, its just another ecosystem filled with life that's evolved differently <3

And I will refer to this very cool post I reblogged recently as proof

[misunderstoodera]

Girls day again for my daughters April and Aniyah . Seafood Shack ❤️

[aquariuminfobureau]

The saddled sharpnosed puffer

C. valentini, the saddled or black-saddled, banded, striped, or Valentini's pufferfish, is the most often traded member of a genus known as the sharpnose pufferfishes or tobies. Sharpnose puffers are named so, because their snouts are pointed for selective feeding, and the gut contents of Canthigaster include varied small items of snipped off animal and plant material. This petite species grows only to 11 centimeters at the longest. or about 4 inches, and the species is most typically closer to 8 centimeters or 3 inches long.

C. valentini inhabits reef and lagoon habitats, as far west as the Indian Ocean coast of Africa, to as far east as the Tuamotos archipelago. This species is also recorded in mangrove environments, where it is associated with Rhizophora mangle, and may in fact be common in such habitat. Juvenile C. valentini are found only in particularly shallow and sheltered envirinments, whereas the older fish of the same species, have much broader preferences of habitat.

With their unusual looks and peculiar swimming mode, and their great personalities, the pufferfishes have found their way into the hearts of numerous aquarists. Other than the basal diodontids, or porcupine fishes, all pufferfishes belong to a subclade called Tetraodontidae. Tetraodontid puffers tend to have only a few external characters usetul to taxonomists, and a number of puffer genera in common use today, were formerly lumped into Tetraodon itself.

Puffers are closely related to the pelagic ocean sunfishes, or molids, the balistoids or triggerfishes, and the boxfishes or ostracoids. These fishes together comprise the tetraodontiform clade, which is marked by tendencies of morphological reduction, simplification, and loss of osteological elements. Puffers and molids share faces that are unusually modified to form a beak-like structure, whereas balistoids and boxfishes possess individual teeth protruding from sockets in their jaws. Pufferfishes also possess dermal spines, the distribution of which on the body, varies between the pufferfish species, and they are most developed in the diodontid puffer clade.

Puffers alone are able to inflate their bodies by a rapid intake of seawater, making themselves too large and difficultly shaped for predators to handle. Although only pufferfishes can inflate in this way, their ability to do so is because their ancestors had already lost their pelvis and pleural ribs. Some other tetraodontiforms can alter the external shape of their bodies, by moving their pelvis, although they do not inflate like the members of the diodontid and tetraodontid clade.

Most species of pufferfish are found in marine environments, but many species are present in estuaries and freshwaters. Marine pufferfishes are present at depths beyond 350 meters deep, and a few species of pufferfish are pelagic. But most marine pufferfish inhabit shallow, tropical seas, and these are the species exported for saltwater aquarium retail The appealing C. valentini is perhaps the most commonly traded of these pufferfishes today.

Unlike typical pufferfishes, Canthigaster have unusually narrow bodies, and fish of this genus are not as well able to self-inflate, as are more typical pufferfish species. Instead their defence relies on potent toxins that are present within their tissues. People have actually died after attempting to eat pufferfish, a phenomenon that is known medically as tetrodotoxin poisoning. In addition to the notorious tetrodotoxin, C. valentini possesses saxitoxins, and both are concentrated primarily in their skins and ovaries, but also in other tissues.

Canthigaster puffers have toxic eggs and larvae, and they remain poisonous to eat when they become adults. Their bright coloration in fact advertises their toxicity, informing predators that the puffer is dangerous to consume. Both juvenile and adult confidently swim over open sand, out in the open, being quite immune to predation. High toxicity arguably affords C. valentini its bold and inquisitive nature, which is beloved to so many aquarists. These diurnal fish practice courtship and spawning throughout the day, and there is no postpartum care of their eggs by either parent fish.

C. valentini have social and mating systems, in which both the female fish guard territories, and the males have harems of females. Female C. valentini chase away other females, whilst the territories of the mature males monopolise their visiting access to a few females. Because C. valentini is so dangeously toxic when eaten, another tetraodontiform species, the boxfish Paraluteres prionurus, has evolved to mimic C. valentini, in order to convince potential predators not to attack. Aquarists, too, might easily confuse these two species, which are so similar that the boxfish is sometimes mislabelled as the puffer. Some juvenile groupers also imitate the toxic C. valentini, and other members of its genus.

Because of its small size, some aquarists have attempted to maintain C. valentini in aquariums with live corals, and other sessile and motile benthic animals. This cannot be encouraged for the simple reason that wild C. valentini and its relatives, consume stony coral polyps as a part of their wide, natural diet. Although at least some of the tissues might be ingested incidentally, when nipping at organisms on living corals, there is no reason C. valentini should not be expected to purposefully bite corals themselves, and this is reported to occur in aquariums.

The gut contents of wild C. valentini demonstrate that its dietary spectrum is broad, including both plants and animals, and different Canthigaster species tend to consume the same categories of food, though they do so in differing proportions, so that the diet of one Canthigaster species bears relevance to that of another, without it matching. When it is compared to some other Cantnigaster puffers, C. valentini shows a particular preference towards nipping fleshy red macroalgae and tunicates, at least in Micronesia where members of the sharpnosed pufferfish guild show niche partitioning.

The organisms nipped by Canthigaster often have chemical defences of their own, which explains why these pufferfish merely nip a little off a growing animal or plant, and then moves along insteat of consuming them in bulk. Such feeding behavior in grazing and browsing animals, helps them by preventing poisoning by any one food source in great ammounts, wether the animals in question are sharpnosed pufferfish, or big, herbivorous land mammals such as elephants.

Members of the Canthigaster genus are known to nip at algae, big foraminifera, and sessile fauna, but also to consume motile benthic animals, such as gastropods, arthropods, and even echinoderms. Contrary to some claims, wild gut contents indicate the sharpnose puffers do not attack other fish in order to devour their scales or fins, a feeding behaviour reported in certain other tetraodontids. C. valentini are often housed with other fish species without incidents, it is true their territorial nature can cause some C. valentini be a little nippy to other species.

The breadth of their diet makes Canthigaster puffers easy to feed in the home aquarium. Foods of both animal and vegetable origin must be given to these fishes, and their diet ought to be varied for the sake of their health. C. valentini are territorial, with their territories centered upon a crevice in a hard substrate, and as might be expected, this species can be pugnacious to their own and other Canthigaster species. Maintaining this species in groups is definitely not recommended.

C. valentini are a small pufferfish suited to a 30 gallon aquarium, making then easier to accommodate than larger puffer species, which might be purchased young by the unsuspecting aquarist, then subsequently outgrow their tanks. But a lot of information about this species with other tankmates is contradictory, which is partly because of personality and habit variation between the individuals, and because their territoriality increases with age, and it is females that are most guarded, at least towards their own or similar species.

[thelien-art]

First i must apologize I have a tendency to forget that tumblr - even when we're all 'on' - is not live interaction and additionally you can't actually read my mind 😅

This was in reaction to seeing your ... delightful?? .. new frog. In such a state. And I got nervous 😋🦀💖

Annon... I´m gonna cry... I love you♡♡♡ you´re making me do happy jumps♡

And I understand fully what you mean about "reading minds" if you can call it that, we´re all there at times!

I hope this is you trying to get me to talk about my wonderful frog Kaj because that´s what I´m gonna do know XD

-

This is Kaj - named after my second favorite show as a child - he´s 25 cm long, and he´s a treefrog, there didn´t stand which one but my best guess is a red eyed tree frog, he just doesn't have the blue stripes, he could also be a Agalychnis moreletii (Morelet's tree frog) but he doesn't have black eyes and Morelet´s are known for their black eyes (a nickname of theirs is black eyed frog).

He could also be an American green tree frog, but his feet are a bit too pigmented, and back a bit to light for that, although the eyes would match there.

Actually he´s a woman as he has an ovary and oviduct (the blue stuff you can see below his urostyle) but I didn´t know that until I unpacked him, where I already had named him

Going with the idea he´s a Morelet (as that´s what he looks most like) he would be around 60mm (f-54 m-60/64)

Red eyed tree frog gets around 6/7 cm (f-7,5 m-5)

All in conclusion he´s a tree frog. Which kind of one? Karl.

And no, the crabs need not fear, he´s much too small to be of any danger in the wild, and my Kaj is made of plastic so he doesn't really jump or eat, unfortunately.

Although some crabs might want to watch out for the Goliath frog... (world's biggest frog at around 32 cm and 3.3 kilograms)

[desultorydenouement]

listen. bad people can make good art. do you really read classic books and just listen to what they’re trying to tell you? that’s not what art is about! art is about what they’re not trying to say! art is a porthole into other people’s worlds! it’s a camera into other people’s minds! it’s how they see the world! navigate their lives! and if they’re bad people, and their view of the world inevitably fucked up, READ IT ANYWAY, and see how all their hatreds and fears and selfishness taint the way they view the world, and learn it. see the way it slants. and next time you look at the world around you and find it leaning just a little bit further into hatred and despair and bigotry, you will know enough about perspective to keep yours steady.

[cream-stew]

hi hi, this is the anon who sent the diluc/zhongli threesome request :3 thank you so much for writing it, you did it wonderfully! (as always) 🩵

thank you for the feedback I'm very glad you liked it <3 <3

[rossithepixie]

I cant stand it when other people who are into fish take on a mocking tone when i talk about goldfish keeping. Especially when it’s immediately evident they don’t actually know anything about it.