Given it's been well over a month since I last updated, I think we need to review the news in the fish blogosphere (<- I hate that word). Remember, if I link something I found it interesting/entertaining enough to read!
I DID NOT COME HERE FOR THIS
The colossal squid (not the same as the giant squid; some of the classy folks at TONMO have even prepared a fact sheet specifically about this topic) lost some street cred with the release of a study recently, claiming that even though it has nightmare-inducing swiveling hooks on its arms, it's actually kind of lazy. However, Mara Grunbaum at Arch-Anemone has written in brave defense of these lazy/terrifying/totally k-rad creature.
Remember argonauts? It turns out their shell/egg case is also an adjustable ballast tank. This is COOL BEANS.
The always-fabulous Echinoblog (the source for all your echinoderm news and media) has a great post on pearlfishes and their natural habitat, sea cucumber cloacas. It is a thing of beauty. Oh, there are also anal teeth. I love nature.
There's a good post up at Hectocotyli about zoophilia; "bestiality" has such a stigma. No, seriously, it's an interesting post on human sexuality as it relates to animals. It's probably NWS due to obligatory octopus shunga, but you might be able to get away with the "But it's ART!" excuse if you have a prudish boss/coworkers.
Apparently a six-gill shark was caught 30 km up a river in Tasmania. Six-gill sharks (most sharks have five gill slits), like so many creatures I love, are old-school. I will write more on them later, but suffice to say that six-gilled sharks are generally found in the opposite of rivers, that is in deep sea waters, so this is kind of weird. Maybe it is bad at directions.
Don't do this. Just...don't.
This is not a new story, but apparently a betta was removed from a 14-year-old Indian boy's penis. He claims he was holding the fish while urinating but somehow it escaped and swam up his urine stream clear into his unit.
....
...well, I know I hold my fish in my hands when I'm cleaning the aquarium, it's by far the best place to put them. At least we have this boy's experience for us, the fish-holders, warning us of the dangers of holding fish near one's urine stream while voiding one's bladder.
And of course, I would be remiss in ignoring the biggest story: the oil well currently ejecting valuable filth into the Gulf of Mexico, thus causing problems for many, many organisms. It is also causing problems for Louisiana, which is a Problem because I myself am from coastal Louisiana; I do not take kindly to this sort of business causing problems from my frequently beleaguered home state.
Unfortunately, me flailing and yelling horrible things at the well/oil industry/global economy/various governments isn't going to stop anything. I'm sure me spilling more virtual ink on the situation will do much. If you're interested (which you should be), I would suggest keeping up with the situation at Deep Sea News, they seem to have a steady and constant finger on the pulse of the situation.
NOT-SO-FUN OIL SPILL FACT: What do they clean the poster children of oil spills (water fowl) with? Diluted Dawn dish soap!
