A To Z Challenge: Ichthyology And Invisible Fish

Ichthyology is the study of fish. It is a branch of zoology, which is in turn a branch of biology. Fish are thought to have evolved some 500 million years ago and are typified by having scales, gills, and fins, and being cold-blooded ("cold-blooded" is also known by the scientifically-correct terms ectothermic or poikilothermic).

Before you run away to something that sounds more interesting and less niche than studying fish (there weren't a whole lot of scientific fields beginning with "i" that I could dig up) give me a moment to get to the invisibility.

The pirate perch, or Aphredoderus sayanus, has been found to be capable of making itself functionally invisible to its prey, probably through a chemical means know as chemical crypsis. The experiment demonstrating the fish's abilities went along these lines: Frogs and beetles that don't lay their eggs around predators they recognize were placed in the vicinity of pirate perch. Instead of not laying eggs and avoiding the perch as they normally would, they acted as though the fish were not present at all. Scientists aren't absolutely sure it's chemical crypsis pirate perch are using to disguise themselves, but if it is, they would be the only known species to camouflage themselves that way.

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Sources:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ichthyology
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/zoology
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1516418/ectotherm
http://www.briancoad.com/main.asp?page=fishdictionary.htm
http://www.arkive.org/fish/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130329085941.htm
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/weird-crafty-fish-can-make-itself-invisible-and-we-dont-know-how
http://www.fishbase.org/FishOnLine/English/index.htm

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Have any favorite fish species (either to eat or to look at)? Do you or did you ever own any aquatic animals?


-----The Golden Eagle

On This Last Day of Christmas: Twelfth Day, Birds, Fish, Video, The Replacement, And Writing

Technically it is the last day of Christmas, you know.

Not as many people celebrate it anymore, particularly not here in the USA, (*sigh* cheer in this country doesn't last too long) but, according to Wikipedia,  it is still celebrated throughout the world. Some do it n the 5th, yesterday, because (also according to Wikipedia) in medieval times the next day started at sundown, which meant the Night came before the Day. Now the day begins at midnight.

So it all depends on where you start.

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I am trying to be friends with Zemanta right now, because it really is a helpful widget.

It's just I was trying to write a post, and it just threw everything out the window. I moved an image around, it combined the text with the image's HTML, and then when I pressed CTRL+Z a few times to get rid of the image and the changes I had made, it all disappeared.

Whoo-hoo.

I suppose I could have been a little less enthusiastic about the CTRL+Z part and just cut out the HTML with the image, but I was trying to get it out fast, because it's later in the afternoon than I'd like and I want to get around to reading blogs!

I suppose I've been taught another lesson about haste makes waste--or, in this case, an obvious lack of anything at all. I won't be doing that again.

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Did you hear about the fish and birds that have been dying? Over 3,000 red-wing blackbirds, common grackles, and European starlings died in Arkansas, and 100,000 fish died 125 miles away. There has also been a major fish die-out in the Chesapeake Bay: 2,000,000 or so there.

It's sad. Not because these are signs the world is going to end--and this is perfect fuel for the that wacky Mayan theory--but because those were birds and fish and creatures are dying much too fast already.

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Speaking of animals:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/american-eagle/video-full-episode/4349/

(I would have embedded the video, but the code hates me today.)

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I finished The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff on Monday, and since I don't want to write a separate post to review it, here a brief idea of what I thought it was like:

Plot: A little slow at the beginning, but it moved quickly enough to keep my interest I read it in a matter of hours. Characters: Loved Mackie Doyle, probably because I'm kind of solitary and an introvert myself. Setting: Creepy and a little disturbing, and I loved the way the human prejudice and general dislike of anything unknown was presented.

Overall: 4 out of 5. J'adore the cover.

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I had a good writing day today, and made up for yesterday's losses (I didn't write anything yesterday). I was also inspired by the music I was listening to--Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Usually it's not my favorite music, but it actually fits my book rather well.

Which leads me to ask: Are there any pieces of music that you've felt match your writing well?

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Well, there's my random and miscellaneous post for the week.

Hope you have a great Thursday!


-----The Golden Eagle