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As an avid aquarist and ichthyologist, I have been fascinated by fish for quite some time now. I thought I’d share some of the more beautiful species that I know. These are in no particular order, since beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.
First off, cichlids is pronounced “Sick-Lids”. African Cichlids are fish found in Three lakes in Africa; Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria. The Victorian Species are less numerous and usually less colorful than the others. These fish usually grow to about six or seven inches long, with the exception of the Frontosoa Species, which grow to about twelve to fourteen inches in length. Fortunately, these fish are freshwater, and easy to raise in a home aquarium, the only requirement being that they have water with a higher pH level and plenty of hiding spots (they can be quite aggressive!). There are also species of Cichlids that live in the Amazon Basin, but these get much larger and are much more aggressive than their African relatives.
Named Parrotfish because of their calcareous bird-like beaks. Parrotfish use these beaks to crush and eat the small invertebrates that live in coral. Much of the sand and sea floor of coral reefs are actually remains of meals from the parrotfish, they chew the coral, eat the invertebrates and spit out the leftover calcium. Like Cichlids, There are many individual species of Parrotfish, with varying degrees of color and patterns.
Ever since “Finding Nemo” came out, these fish are usually referred to as “Dory Fish” by children. Tangs belong to a family of fish called Surgeonfish, who possess a small, retractable calcareous blade toward their tail fin. This blade is mainly used for defense, they extract it and rub against an attacker, in an effort to fend it off.
A small angelfish, usually available at your local pet store, they really are a fish one needs to see in person to have a full appreciation of their color. These fish are usually keepable in any marine aquarium and are very hardy.
A close relative of the Coral Beauty, the Flame Angel has some of the boldest color of any fish I’ve seen. As with the Coral Beauty, these fish are usually easily available and affordable, but from my experience are a bit more fickle than the Coral Beauty.
Yeah sure, most of the Koi you have seen are probably nothing more than orange or white. However, there are many (probably close to or more than 100) color variations of Koi (Just pick up a Koi trader’s magazine the next time you’re at a bookstore). Koi can comer in many colors, including orange, red, white, gold, and black. Certain patterns are sought after by avid Koi collectors, some of whom will pay thousands of dollars for a single fish.
One of the most difficult fish to keep in a home aquarium (and very expensive as well), to most aquarists these fish are the pinnacle of the hobby. You may think you’ve seen them before, but you’re probably getting them confused with another species, the Bannerfish (also known as the False Idol). In eight years of the hobby, I’ve only ever seen these fish for sale in shops on three occasions.
Probably one of my favorite fish of all time, the Lionfish (or Zebrafish) is a fascinating species, and is easy to become mesmerized by one when watching it swim. The spines you see on its back possess a painful and powerful venom. Thankfully the Lionfish is somewhat docile and not a fast swimmer, but all aquarists who own one must take extra care when cleaning their tank.
Another freshwater species, Discus are probably the single most beautiful species of Freshwater fish. They are also probably the most expensive Freshwater species, second only to the Koi or the Arowana. A small 3 inch juvenile can be anywhere from $50-$80. There are many color variations of Discus, most of which are simply breathtaking. Although they are Freshwater species, they do require more experience and care than some Saltwater fish.
A lesser-known species, these are probably the single most colorful and vibrant fish I’ve ever seen. There are two varieties, the standard Mandarinfish and the Psychedelic Mandarin. The standard typically has more interesting patterns and colors than the psychedelic, but both are very beautiful fish. These small fish (usually no more than 6 inches full-grown) usually don’t cost more than $20 for a specimen, but the main problem is feeding them. They only eat small micro-invertebrates that live within live rock in coral reefs. In order to sustain one in a home aquarium, one needs a sufficient amount of live rock that has been in the tank for at least a month prior to introducing the fish. As with some of the other species on this list, one really needs to see this fish in person to witness the amazing vibrance of its color.
Contributor: GhostShip
August 10th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Wow! Great list! Very interesting and breathtaking! If I ever get the money together, I will get an aquarium for sure!
August 10th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Beautiful – and natural? How much crazy breeding goes on in this world?
Have you seen the genetically altered Taiwanese Fluorescent Fish?
http://www.mongabay.com/external/glowing_fish.htm
August 10th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Oh so pretty
August 10th, 2008 at 3:53 am
Can you put all these fish in the one tank? Some are salt-water fish, some are fresh-water fish, the koi look larger than most of the rest.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:54 am
They are very beautiful. A fab list!
August 10th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Great list!
It’s always good to learn more of something I previously knew nothing about!
August 10th, 2008 at 4:23 am
How gorgeous. An absolute wonder. I’ve never been diving waters that contain such beauties but I am looking forward to the time/s that I will. Thanks.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:38 am
astraya – you can try putting them together – they may murder each other but it would be entertaining at least
August 10th, 2008 at 4:40 am
i think we just got a glimpse of another side to you jamie… haha
August 10th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Jamie: that did occur to me! Have you ever seen Thai fighting fish? They are generally kept in separate tanks.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:16 am
beauty
August 10th, 2008 at 5:37 am
All very beautiful these fish. I have kept both fresh and marine fish in my past years. I no longer keep fish as I object to the mean that people use in capturing them. After taking up SCUBA diving years ago, and witnessing the splendor that these fish exhibit in their natural state, seeing then in little tanks is just plain wrong. I used to have a two meter marine tank with some awesome species over the years but I will never buy marine fish from pet stores because they are so lifeless and sad in our aquariums. The locals that catch these fish really damage the reef and use various poisons to stun the fish during their capture. Those Moorish idols (number 4) are so amazing on the reef and here where I stay we have an abundance of them on our reefs of Sodwana Bay. But they so majestic in the wild, and so listless in captivity. Parrot fish (9) are really pretty too, I had one follow me all over the reef on one snorkeling trip. I opened rock muscles for it and it almost ate from my hand. Lion fish (3) are pretty docile in nature, you don’t see them swimming around much, they usually just hovering but still quite interesting to swim over. There are all these little markings that you see when swimming with them that you don’t see in photos. Most fish are so amazing in nature, when you swim over them and see their perfect torpedo shapes and velvet looking skin etc. Earlier today I was just watching a tv show that had a giant clam and I remembered my sister sticking her hand into one. On tv it just looks like a meter long corrugated shell, but up close there are all these electric neon blue spots on the inner soft tissue. Fresh water discus always captured my attention as a child because the tanks are normally dimly lit and the water is darker from the addition of peat moss to lower the PH. All fish, be in fresh water or marine are so beautiful, we must think twice when we purchase these fish from pet stores because our natural heritage is being destroyed as a result.
Nice list though.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Sarahhenity: haha – caught out!
Astraya – no! But I will now
August 10th, 2008 at 5:46 am
Astraya:
The Siamese fighting fish (Beta’s) that you refer to are very territorial. Two male will fight to death when faced with each other in aquariums. In the wild they have enough space for the weaker on to swim away and establish a domain somewhere else. It has been reported that they can be found in the indentations in the ground made by horse hooves that have been filled with water. I used to breed them years ago and the males take care of the eggs and fry (babies). The males use their saliva to blow millions of little bubbles and make a floating nest on the surface of the water the size of a saucer. He will mate with the female and catch the eggs as he presses them out of her and then place them into the next of bubbles. When the fry hatch he really works hard to keep the fry safely in the nest. Unfortunately about 90% of the offspring die when they are a few weeks old. These fish are born with normal gills that extract oxygen from the water but at a certain stage they develop a labyrinth gill which allows them to breathe atmospheric air from above the water surface. When this transition happens many don’t form correctly and the fish die. These are truly beautiful fish.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Thank you GhostShip!
What a beautiful way to start a day.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Brilliant list. It’s great to not only be able to see the fish, but also to read a bit about them as well. Nice one, GhostShip.
A comment on the title though… ‘Fishes’? Shouldn’t it just be ‘10 Incredibly Beautiful Fish’?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:00 am
dangorironhide: I’m pretty sure you can say ‘fishes’ when you’re talking about more than one type of fish
August 10th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Koi can comer in many colors, including orange, red, white, gold, and black. Certain patterns are sought after by avid Koi collectors, some of whom will pay thousands of dollars for a single fish.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:09 am
you can tell your starting to run out of ideas when you start talking about beautiful fishes……:):) Great list though!
August 10th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Wow, really beautiful fhises! The parrot fish was the most beautiful one for me.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Great list! The beauty of these fish is just amazing. Personally, I’ve killed the few fish I have ever attempted to care for, along with the plants I have tried to grow. Oh my gosh, I should probably have never been allowed to have children. O.O
August 10th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Hehe Cheeshygirl!
That Mandarinfish is groovy.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:45 am
which ones taste the best?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I’d say the koi tastes the best.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Cool. “Koi can comer” typo, I believe.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Hey Banaas, 19,
Give him a chance. He¡s working on ‘The 10 Worse Bearded Women Heavy Metal Groups’ for you. It takes a lot more time than gorgeous fishes, ya know.
xdarkhorsesex, 23,
Ask the Chinese or Japanese. Or wait until the world runs out of the ones we usually eat in a few years’ time.
Tempyra, 24,
So that’s why they keep nicking big 100+ year-old koi out of ponds around us. I thought it was because they retailed at around 1000 quid apiece. Actually, if they’re a typical freshwater carp, they’ll be a delicacy for monks (who used to keep them for food in the middle ages). You’ll need the patience of a monk too, ‘cos they’d be chock-full of bones and the flavour would be *delicate* (translates as *watery and tasteless*). Why not stick to monkfish?
Or why not join Homer Simpson in a tasty dish of fuku (or fugu). Yes, spare us the puns. please. They now suspect that if you eat a *poisonous* piece of the puffer-fish and die, you’re not dead at all, just in an incredible deep, almost death-like *zombie* trance, as the *poison* may in effect be the world’s most powerful anaesthesia. In that case a lorra Japanese (and probably a few others) have been buried alive. The fishes’ revenge?
August 10th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Great fishies. We have two tanks. Both are freshwater. In one we had an African Ciclid. It was a lighter purple and it’s tiger striping showed mor than your picture. It terrorized our blood parrot. The Parrot ended up in one corner of the tank and defended that area agressively. Luckily the Oscar kept them all in line. Unfortunately the Ciclid was the first to die when the bubble maker (sorry I don’t know the terms, it is my husbands tank) got plugged up.
The ciclid was my fave. I named him Amesegënallô (Thank you in Ethiopian) and nicknamed him Nala. I have always liked the colors of Marine fish. Hubby said he will not do another saltwater tank because they are too much work.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Anon: I think I got koi carp confused with grass carp (I’m not sure if that is the proper common name either), which I think are more edible. Koi carp are a pest in New Zealand – they were accidentally introduced, mixed up with some goldfish IIRC. They mess up the waterways with how they feed and don’t mind living in worse water quality than the native fish need. People aren’t allowed to import them and if you catch one outside of the areas that are infested you’re meant to kill it.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:49 am
We had a freshwater aquarium when we were kids. I think it may have been a zen exercise for my mom. She certainly needed something relaxing after dealing with us all day. Great list and nice dose of nostalgia for a Sunday morning. Good job Ghostship.
Stewart: Can you not purchase tropical fish that are guaranteed farm or home raised instead of stolen from the wild?
August 10th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Oh, I mixed up some words – if you catch koi carp anywhere in NZ you’re meant to kill them, not just outside the containment zones.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I reread my post and made it seem like I currently have a saltwater tank. All of my tanks are freshwater. The 2 differences are levels in agressiveness and size. My husband would not let me get saltwater fish because he had a saltwater in the past and felt they are too much work.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I would dearly love to have a koi pond in my yard. I have enough room for a very large pond , but because of the local wild life, it would be a certain death sentence for the koi.
If the raccoons didn’t get them, the mountain lions would.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:28 am
When it comes to fresh water fish, many varieties are bred in captivity. Those are probably better to have than ones “stolen from the wild”. There are certain fish that have not been bred successfully in captivity because it is difficult to simulate natural conditions. Mostly fish will only spawn if they in peak condition. Sadly many people are not able to replicate such conditions in a small aquarium.
Marine fish are very difficult to breed in captivity because many of the spawning triggers cant be replicated in captivity such as pressure etc. Temperature changes and nutrient blooms are easier to replicate but pressure has always been a problem. For such reasons most marine fish are stolen from their natural habitat. Yes there are millions of little fish and the amount that the hobbyist keeps is a really small percentage but it’s the way in which they are stolen from the reef that is very disturbing. Fish hunters spray the reefs with cyanide which desecrates corals that have taken hundreds of years to grow. The fish are stunned by the cyanide and are easily bagged. These fish don’t last very long due to organ damage. Its difficult to control the supply of ornamental marine fish as most fish keepers are not familiar with the tell tail signs of cyanide of fish. So its almost inevitable that people end up buying from dodgy suppliers without really being able to verify if the fish they are purchasing have really been collected by acceptable methods.
Our marine resources are under sever pressure due to over fishing etc. for some insight look for the BBC production called The Blue Planet. Also Planet Earth is very good and disturbing at the same time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/blueplanet/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Earth_(TV_series)
August 10th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I worked in tropical fish shops as a teen. I never was stung by a lion fish, but others weren’t so lucky. We were instructed to run our hands under hot water if we got stung. Supposedly that neutralized the venom. Not sure if it really worked.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Wow, this list brings back memories. I was a hugely avid aquarist in the 80’s and I had most of these fish at one time or another.
My pride and joy was my Arabian Asfur Angel, which cost me $187 as a juvenile, but was worth over $5000 as an adult. One look at his gorgeous colors verified every penny of his value.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Good list
August 10th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Great list – beautiful.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Namowal: The heat from the water breaks down the protein in the poison, it works for most marine type stings. Also vinegar works. But the best is not to get stung
August 10th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I have had my fair share of African Cichlid tanks. They are very fun to maintain and you seem to pick up their own personality depending on their environment. They are VERY active fish.
I am currently running a discus and angelfish tank that is naturally planted. While not as exciting as the cichlid tank, their gracefulness more than makes up for that.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
33 stewart,
Yes, ‘The Blue Planet’ is wonderful. One of our daughters bought it for us, but unfortunately some while back, so it’s in the more tedious tape format rather than DVD.
There’s nothing to equate with live eyeball-to-eyeball experience, at its ultimate when carefully scuba diving round a reef, of course (which for me would be one of my fuku-eating Homer Simpson things to do before you die). But there are plenty of ways to appreciate these marvels in a slightly less perfect way without doing environmental damage, from the aquarium screen-saver, through wild-life DVDs to well-produced picture books.
If you have access to them, modern public aquaria, including the *Sea Life* chain, offer hours of endless relaxed but stimulating pleasure. They hold a great variety, but one of each kind enthralls a multitude of visitors, rather than a multitude of fish, etc, haveing to provide for each person or family individually. In my opinion, smaller water life, along with many invertebrates (insects, etc.) in particular, is best able to be supplied with near natural and stress-free conditions in (careful, informed) captivity anyway. We’ve visited many public aquaria. There must a ton in the States, but our all time favourite is the multi-story aquarium house at Berlin Zoo. We went to spend perhaps a day doing the whole outfit and spent TWO AND A HALF capitivated days in the aquarium alone (O.K. we have very long attention spans for that sort of thing). I almost had to shoot my wife with a tranquilizing dart to get her away from *The Ballet of the Medusas*!
August 10th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Tempyra, 28, 30,
I’d have thought koi were a piece of cake to catch with rod and line. Big, slow, greedy fish that gobble at anything. Wouldn’t koi fishing competitions work? Kiwiland is pretty good at reducing introduced plagues as a rule.
I think I know what the Chinese would do. They’d issue every man, woman and child in the land with a free rod and line and declare a unanimous *koi hunt*. Next day there’d be no grown koi in the rivers, and every market and restaurant would be serving up koi delicacies! Another koi day would follow in due course to catch the fry that escaped, and so on.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
#1 is really pretty. it looks as if it would be bigger than 6 inches.
good, beautiful, list!
August 10th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Koi are a pest in NZ! Which is real stink coz my family have a huge aquarium with lots of amazing fish, my Dad really watned a Koi but it is illegal to transport them while they are alive! (so you have to kill them boefore you move them… )such a shame… but if they get into the wrong water areas they will cause alot of damage
August 10th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
heehee most of those fish are from Finding Nemo!!
I can see why they chose them though, those colours are breathtaking and 100% natural!
August 10th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
The lionfish is wonderful. but what about the siamese fighting fish?
Also, going a bit more simple, black moors are very beautiful.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
It is just fish, not fishes.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
tina: you are wrong. The plural of fish is fish, the plural of types of fish is fishes. From the dictionary: “especially referring to two or more kinds or species”. As this list is about different species of fish, fishes is the correct term.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
This is great!
August 10th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
What about the Spanish Dancer?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
My friend had a juvenile fish that was called a bat (I think. If I remember correctly). It was beautiful. All black and it looked like it had wings -obviously- it just sort of floated thru the water. Not as pretty as an adult. Anyone know what I mean, which fish I describe?
Very pretty fish here. We can all use a little more beauty in life.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I don’t like fishes, for eating or otherwise, something about them gives me the willies. However, a very interesting read regardless.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
This would be a great list for me had it not been for the fact that I have an allergy to fish. I swear I started swelling up at the sight of the first pic!
August 10th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
MPW You don’t eat fish? I could every night. Swordfish, tuna, tilapia, salmon, whitefish, monk fish, oh the list (no pun intended
goes on and on. What about other seafood? I thought you liked shrimp.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Shellfish is fine, well shrimp is at least, I’ve never tried lobster or crab.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
MPW You live in California and you never tried lobster or crab????? Please explain this to me. My 8 year old requests them both. Every day. Doesn’t happen but he hopes.
I like them both too. But crab reminds me of arachnids (spiders) and lobster of roaches. How’s that for a deterrent.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I would like to try a fancy lobster, and frankly, I have to save up to be poor
I’m not deterred by bugs or spiders, I’m bigger and stronger than they are, plus they taste quite extraordinary.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Eew. You don’t eat bugs or spiders!! If you want I’ll send you a Lobstergram. Loads different than a “candygram”
August 10th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Mailed lobster? I dunno
August 10th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
They guarantee delivery. Check it out. If it sounds legit to you, I will send you one or two. Whatever. I don’t know how they package it.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Can you mail yourself to me instead
August 10th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Would love to. Thanks for the invite. Cannot leave my boys. I am all they have.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
wow purdy colours
August 10th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
dont buy #4. they tend to plot an escape from the aquarium. believe me! i’ve seen finding nemo.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
AWESOME list! My parents used to have fish when I was a young’un until I decided I wanted to be the Little Mermaid and try to swim with them! They had all sorts of freshwater fish, I mainly remember them breeding angelfish. My favorite was the neon tetras, they looked like they were glowing red and blue, so cool! Still a favorite of mine. I like to have a betta on my desk or dresser, haven’t had one for about a year or so after the last one died, been meaning to do so just haven’t gotten motivated.
But if I ever get a big tank I definitely want an African cichlid!
August 10th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
and #8 has a very short memory… but, amazingly, they can read. O_o
August 10th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Tina, 46,
“FISH This word has two pural forms: fish and fishes. Fish is far more widely used: *I don’t eat fish*, *He brought home three fish*. Fishes is used in technical writing, usually to emphasise individual fish or species of fish: *Salmon and trout are both food fishes*” ‘The Right Word at the Right Time’: 239.
I would go further and suggest fishes is useful when you want to emphasise plurality and avoid the possibility that only one is being referred to.
e.g.: Is it *The miracle of the loaves and the fish*? or *The miracle of the loaves and the fishes*? Be sure before you answer that!
August 10th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
SORRY JFR!!!!!
You answered that one straight away in 47, the next, and I somehow missed it in my feverish scrolling.
Holds revolver to head, pulls trigger and hopes there’s no bullet in the chamber.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Presumably the pet-shop regular jewels such as neon tets (already mentioned), pearl gouramis, glassfish (colourless, but exquisite), paradise fish, etc., are too well-known, a bit small and certain to be voted out before the final ten. But they are most people’s experience. Also worth a mention is the humble British 3-spined stickleback male in the full, brilliant, aggressive glory of its breeding colours. It was the first colourful free-living fish I ever knew after the goldfish.
I can just about remember too that my father kept an aquarium with the equivalent of the above-named species in the 50s. But power-cuts were too frequent in those times, and it was too common in winter to find the poor little bleeders all belly-up except the guppies and other tougher live-bearers.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Hey, where’s Nemo? Clown fish are very brightly colored and very beautiful too.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Thanks for all the comments everyone, I appreciate it
Yes, I know I left some obvious ones out (Gouramis, Tetras, Bettas, Clownfish, etc.)
I tried to pick ones that are lesser known and unusually vibrant or unique colors. Orange is pretty common.
As far as variety goes, I’d have to say that the African Cichlids have the widest array of colors, there are many, many species of these fish, offering a very wide array of colors, and the best part? you can keep many in a tank at a time. Currently I have about eight 4″ Cichlids, each a different species in my 80 gal freshwater tank.
Another amazing looking sea creature for those who don’t know the Peacock Mantis Shrimp. Aside from looking visually stunning, these are truly amazing creatures. They pretty much look like a shrimp, but with Preying-Mantis-like eyes and two folding appedages at the front of thier body which they use to dispatch thier prey. The downside? They will kill and eat everything in your tank, and have the capability to break a glass aquarium or split your thumb open. Most end up in home aquariums as stowaways on live rock, but they can sometimes be seen for sale in shops.
If you want to know more, just type in “mantis shrimp” on youtube. Fascinating.
Well, I’m glad you all enjoyed the list =)
-GS
August 11th, 2008 at 2:10 am
GhostShip,
The splendid mantis shrimp has appeared several times as the star (perhaps better, champ) of TV natural history programmes. It had one of its own called something punning like *The Fastest Stun in the West*. It ain’t only *visually* stunning, eh? I think men might want to wear an athlete’s box if scuba-ing around where those beasts were plentiful! Or would even that be protection enough?
Another group of gorgeous but lethal sea-dwellers are those little Pacific blue-ringed octopuses (or octopi), about the size of a golf ball, which can send you to a swifter meeting with your Maker than you’d care for. Apparently they contain the same neurotoxin as the puffer-fish.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:44 am
great list, i recently returned from a holiday in Cairns QLd ( AUS) where i snorkeled on the great barrier reef. Simply breathtaking, it has been one of the highlights of my life so far, to see all that beauty swiimming in their natural habitats! I quite liked seeing the parrotfish up close and personal, reminded me of ‘The joker’ from batman
August 11th, 2008 at 6:54 am
So pretty! Nice pics, too.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Putting fish together to kill each other is as cruel as dog and rooster fighting and animal baiting.
A recent issue of Fish and Fisheries, devoted to learning, cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence, proving that fish are smart, that they can use tools, and that they have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures.
Many people have never stopped to think about it, but fish are smart, interesting animals with their own unique personalities—just like the dogs and cats we share our homes with. Did you know that fish can learn to avoid nets by watching other fish in their group and that they can recognize individual “shoal mates”? Some fish gather information by eavesdropping on others, and some—such as the South African fish who lay eggs on leaves so that they can carry them to a safe place—even use tools.
Scientists are starting to learn more and more about our finned friends, and their discoveries are fascinating:
• A recent issue of Fish and Fisheries, devoted to learning, cited more than 500 research papers on fish intelligence, proving that fish are smart, that they can use tools, and that they have impressive long-term memories and sophisticated social structures. The introductory chapter said that fish are “steeped in social intelligence, pursuing Machiavellian strategies of manipulation, punishment and reconciliation … exhibiting stable cultural traditions and cooperating to inspect predators and catch food.”
• Culum Brown, a University of Edinburgh biologist who is studying the evolution of cognition in fish, says, “Fish are more intelligent than they appear. In many areas, such as memory, their cognitive powers match or exceed those of ‘higher’ vertebrates, including non-human primates.” Their long-term memories help fish keep track of complex social relationships. Their spatial memory—”equal in all respects to any other vertebrate”—allows them to create cognitive maps that guide them through their watery homes, using cues such as polarized light, sounds, smells, and visual landmarks.
• Dr. Phil Gee, a psychologist from the University of Plymouth, says that fish can tell what time of day it is, and he trained fish to collect food by pressing a lever at specific times. He says “fish have a memory span of at least three months,” and they “are probably able to adapt to changes in their circumstances, like any other small animals and birds.”
• “We’re now finding that [fish] are very capable of learning and remembering, and possess a range of cognitive skills that would surprise many people.”
—Dr. Theresa Burt de Perera, Oxford University
• A scientific review presented to the Australian Veterinary Association completely disproved the old myth that goldfish have three-second memories; instead, the veterinarians found that goldfish have impressive memories and problem-solving abilities. One of the researchers said that after conducting the review, they wanted “to get the message out to vets to start looking more closely at fish and considering their welfare like they do other animals.”
—The Sunday Times, May 28, 2006
• “Australian crimson spotted rainbowfish, which learnt to escape from a net in their tank, remembered how they did it 11 months later. This is equivalent to a human recalling a lesson learnt 40 years ago.”
—Sunday Telegraph, Oct. 3, 2004
August 11th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Too bad all the oceans will be extinct of them by the time our childrens reach middle age Tristan, but maybe their super intelligence and tool making abilities will get them out of the farms that the kin won’t be l be forced to spawn under controlled labs of the future.
I’m foolin,
but it all seems so late in the whole scheme of things, that we should start getting “proof” to start giving rights to the other inhabitants of this planet that most call food and clothes. and pets.
I used to allways go to the back of the pet store to check out the fish. And the ones you have here, always stuck out with the blacklights. (have the stoners allready commented on this aspect?)
My story is this: I was 15 and recieved 15 gallon gift with swimmers included. I won a couple of goldfish by tossing ping-pong balls at the fair. I added them in with the lot. I bought a small amizonian frog. I had a backdrop of th Titanic.
I loved it –resting so high on my bookshelf. I would loose myself absorbed before bed. In a room only illuminated by the fascination they gave me befor settling down to enter dreamland.
THEN ONE NIGHT. in the middle of night and early morning. The 15 gallon tank came crashing to the floor.
I have only screamed instinctually twice in my life and this out did the first.
Luckily, my mother was out of town and I was alone, but the nieghbors below were home and within a minute the phone rang. I knew.
“I’ll be right up”
soaking up the water and glass and never finding the tiny frog from the Amazon. The fish spent the rest of their stay in a large bowl filled with water, in the kitchen sink. The kept jumping out, and would be bone dry in the morning, but back in the water and they would become recessitated.
End of story is I took them to a small “fountain pond” at the park’s Botanical Gardens.
I was happy with their new home, but a week later I went back to visit ant the whole “fountain Pond” WAS GONE!
August 11th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
my previous comment(who cares!)
Minus-”wont be I”(third line)–subtract that so for somewhat better understanding.
athough, maybe I will…
but I hope not
Can I image being placed in a tub in florida aqua farm- fur shaved clean-tubes attached and vitamin dosage. If I were some prime queen perhaps. or prime cut. You would think that if cloning and cell growing could replicate the faxsimile, than we could just put aside human fetal cell use and start making meat for human consumption
August 11th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
TRISTAN,
“Oh would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would you rather be a fish?
“A fish won’t do anything but swim in a brook,
He can’t write his name or read a book.
To fool the people is his only thought,
Although he’s slippery he still gets caught.
But if that then’s the sort of life you’d wish,
You may grow up to be a fish,
A new kind of jumped up slippery fish.
“And all the monkeys …”
Or is it so? I never doubted Bing for an instant, butit seems we need a revisionist version. Ah, they don’t write ‘em like that any more though.
Friends of ours with a big property kept a bunch of free-running German shepherds (Alsations) for guard purposes. They fed those dogs almost exclusively on pellets from paper sacks, which seemed to do them no harm. They also had a smallish doughnut-shaped formal pool with a fountain at the centre. In the pool they kept a large number of goldfish. The dry pellets naturally made the dogs as thirsty as hell, so they’d make straight for the pool with all the crumbs stuck round their whiskers. Of course the crumbs immediately fell away in the water: freebies for the fish. Not only did the fish almost immediately lose their fear, but they knew exactly when the dogs were coming and clustered around the sides of the pool at the surface in anticipation. Even further, they would actually make contact with the dogs’ jaws and suck off the crumbs before they had time to soak free!
August 11th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
77. Anon…Not only did the fish almost immediately lose their fear, but they knew exactly when the dogs were coming and clustered around the sides of the pool at the surface in anticipation. Even further, they would actually make contact with the dogs’ jaws and suck off the crumbs before they had time to soak free!
****
That is an act I’d pay money to see!
When my children were young I used to take them to a Japanese garden in San Francisco. There was a large, very beautiful Koi pond, with several “feeding stations”. To our eyes, these feeding stations looked no different from other ponds in the maze-like system of ponds and streams, but the fish knew. Food sellers were on hand, and would sell exactly as much food as the fish required at that feeding. We’d get handfuls of pellets, which the koi would suck from our fingers.
It tickled!
Good days.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Captain Picard’s Lion fish was named Livingston. I dont know why I know that
August 12th, 2008 at 4:02 am
We had an aquarium when I was very young. I remember crying when I saw an angelfish had died. We had Molly fish that gave birth to live young. You had to separate the babies so they didn’t get eaten by the parents. My father tried to use a divider in the tank but the babies would get around it and …UM… disappear (gulp). One day I watched an adult Molly eat one of its own young.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Captain Picard’s lionfish was called Livingston after one of the producers of the show
Wonderful list! My mother-in-law has a koi pond. She has to keep netting over it or else the Great Blue Heron eats them. So funny to hear that they’re a nuisance in other parts of the world when it costs her hundreds of dollars to keep that pond working. (P.s. I don’t like the black koi she has- he’s a bastard-fish.)
August 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
the plural of fish is fish.
just fyi!
August 12th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
plural: see comment 47 – in fact, “fishes” is the plural when used in reference to species of fish as opposed to a group of fish in one species.
August 12th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
In the Koi carp article you made a spelling mistake “comer in” :p
I now know a lot more about the fish in Finding Nemo and may even be able to sound all knowledgable the next time I see any of those fish.
August 12th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
The plural of fish is fish, not fishes.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Fishes, fishes, fishes, fishes, fishes!
‘Fishes’ as a plural is perfectly valid.
I suppose if people were to stop correcting non-existent mistakes the internet would implode.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
My God! How annoying is it when 3 people all make the same mistake when trying to correct someone else? Can’t people read the comments?
August 13th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Listverse could probably start some kind of betting competition based on estimating how often commenters ‘correct’ the list
‘Fishes’ here is like the “F-flat” on the 9 Extraordinary Human Abilities list.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:28 am
why no gold fish lol
August 13th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
ah, the dory fish. badass. i love all these fish, they’re so beautiful. makes me want to go the aquarium and chill.
welcome to 8th grade english where we will be discussing the proper plurals of sealife…
don’t ever make a list about mooses. moose. meese. more than one moose.
or cacti.
August 13th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
#87. jfrater
My God! How annoying is it when 3 people all make the same mistake when trying to correct someone else? Can’t people read the comments?
****
Jamie, how about a list of commonly misused plurals?
AAaakkKK! There are so many! It’s one of the word games my kids and I would play when they were growing up…funny, funny stuff.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
segue: that is an excellent idea – perhaps you can put it together and send it in!
August 13th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
92. jfrater…well, I had something else in mind, but yeah. Yeah. That would be fun.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Anon (77 Spanner) Oh would you like to swing on the stars. . . We sang this in school. One of my favorites! Thank you for reminding me of that.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Vera, (94),
More than a pleasure. Also to be back openly (in part) as my original Spanner persona. I love it too. So does one of my friends of the same age as myself. The verse beginning “A pig …” is just about his national anthem! It was the only verse I could remember off the top of my head until I discovered the websites. You just feed in a line of the lyrics to Google and a fistful of sites will scroll up which have the entire song written out. That holds for many songs, even rude ones we used to sing as students and in the RAF, I’ve discovered. Oh, nostalgia, the net is thy name!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The only fish I would regard as “cool” (besides sharks) are Archer Fish, those fish are amazing.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:19 am
96. MPW
The only fish I would regard as “cool” (besides sharks) are Archer Fish, those fish are amazing.
****
MPW, get yourself to your nearest video rental store and check out Blue Planet. Therein you will find cool fish to spare!
Also included on Planet Earth, The Seas episode.
Cool fish overload!
No kidding. Makes the (ever-so-cool) Archer Fish pale in comparison…like the Devil Squid.
Now, *that’s* cool!
August 15th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
segue, (97),
Better buy than rent as well if able to afford, I should say.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
#98. Anon – August 15th, 2008 at 1:41 pm [Report Abuse]
segue, (97),
Better buy than rent as well if able to afford, I should say.
****
I totally agree!
I was only suggesting he rent because it sounded as if he hadn’t seen them. Once he had seen a single episode, buying would be the only option…even if it meant skipping lunch for a month!
I just managed to secure 4 copies of the NatGeo Jann 1979 issue, which included a “sound sheet” a recording of the songs of the Humpback Whale.
My son’s 31 birthday is this month, and he was 29 months old when that issue hit our home. He made me play it over & over & over until it was in holes and tatters! Now he’ll have his own copy, plus I got one each for the girls and one for me.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
segue, (99),
well done. What foresight!
P.S. This isn’t here just to get me comment 100, honest!!!
August 16th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Its fish, genius.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
#101. LILNIKKI
Its fish, genius.
****
Both fish and fishes are acceptable plurals for fish.
Trust me, I know this stuff inside out.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:00 am
It’s ‘it’s’ not ‘its’, genius.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:15 am
#103. Tempyra
It’s ‘it’s’ not ‘its’, genius.
****
lol lol lol
I wasn’t going to hit her with *everything*. So thank you.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
segue: I just can’t help myself sometimes
August 18th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Tempyra, your naughtiness is soooo similar to my own in my younger days, and my kids now ( I fostered it, but it was natural), that I just can’t help loving your sense of humor!
August 18th, 2008 at 7:43 am
segue: I’m glad we have that in common
August 20th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Koi Fish are my favorite, and Beta, but I think Beta would be much more cooler if they were a bit bigger
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
there should be a saltwater and freshwater category. who compiled this list? how can this list not have a single fairy or flasher wrasse? this is not a complete list without one.