fish news stories on Newser

Eyeless Shrimp? Report Raises Concerns in Gulf

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:47:08 CDT

Shrimp missing their eyeballs (and even eye sockets), fish covered in lesions, deformed crabs, and other mutated sea creatures are showing up in unsettling numbers in the Gulf of Mexico two years after the giant BP oil spill, according to an investigation by Al Jazeera English . "The fishermen have never...

Gender-Bending Fish Swap Sexes in Harems

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:05:05 CST

Talk about a dynamic dating scene. The richly colored hawkfish of southern Japan can transform into a female or male depending on circumstances to improve their reproductive chances, New Scientist reports. Many marine animals change gender during a lifetime, but in the hawkfish, scientists have for the first time discovered...

Tuna Sells for Record $736K

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:59:33 CST

Japan's first tuna auction of the year generally sees millions of yen tossed around—in 2011, the top bluefin sold for 32.49 million yen, the equivalent of about $423,000. But hold on to your hats, because 2012 makes that look like chump change. A 593-pound fish sold today...

Dead Fish Blanket Norwegian Beach— Then Disappear

Kate Schwartz — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:17:05 CST

First more dead blackbirds in Arkansas, now dead herring in Norway. Tens of thousands of fish blanketed the beach in Kvaenes, a town located north of the Arctic Circle, on New Year's Eve, reports the AP . A marine researcher speculates that they were forced ashore in a bid to escape...

Political Parties Act Like Schools of Fish

Matt Cantor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:23:05 CST

Wondering about the future of the Tea Party, or what affect the Occupy Movement might have on Democrats? Try asking a bunch of fish. Scientists have found that in a school of fish, a "vocal minority"—that is, a group determined to swim in a certain direction—can entice a...

Fish May Protect Against Alzheimer's

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:44:05 CST

One possible way to protect yourself against Alzheimer's: Eat fish once per week. A new study suggests that elderly people who do just that are three to five times less likely to get the disease or suffer memory loss, the Telegraph reports. But in order for the fish to help,...

Fisherman Nabs Cyclops Shark

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:51:13 CDT

I've got my eye on you, cyclops shark. But you appear to be the real thing—or so say experts who have examined the one-eyed creature cut from the belly of a pregnant shark hooked out of the Gulf of California on a sport fishing expedition. "This is extremely rare,...

Slimy Hagfish Is Threatened— and Vital

John Johnson — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:49:13 CDT

Pity the poor hagfish: It has an awful name, an even-worse nickname ("slime eel"), shudder-inducing eating habits (it is thought to burrow into dead and dying creatures on the ocean floor and absorb nutrients through its skin), and now troubling numbers about its very survival. Of 76 species worldwide, nine...

San Francisco Considers Ban on Goldfish Sales

Matt Cantor — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:25:24 CDT

Proposals to ban cat and dog sales are nothing new in San Francisco, but now animal control officials recommend ending the sale of goldfish, tropical fish, and guppies. Such fish are generally bred inhumanely, a member of the city's animal welfare panel tells the San Francisco Chronicle . “Most fish in...