The More Things Change…

Fennel (she/her, with tag) and Dill (he/him, no tag)

Two little thylacines by Paradise Ark, bought online and arrived in October 2022. Both originally had some oddly-constructed hind legs that seemed half joined together - Dill has been modified to have more ‘normal’ shaped legs. Their facial expressions are naturally so different!

Normal art

Wild Stingrays making sounds beneath the waves

Stingrays: no longer the silent residents of the sea! 

Our new Journal of Ecology paper provides the first evidence of not one but TWO species of #stingray actively producing sounds 🔊 

https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3812 

We present 3 examples of sound production by wild stingrays - one of an adult mangrove whipray (Urogymnus granulatus) in #Indonesia by #scuba diver Philip Christoff, a juvenile mangrove whipray at #MagneticIsland in the #GreatBarrierReef by biologist and photographer Javier Delgado Esteban, and an adult cowtail stingray (Pastinachus ater) at #HeronIsland the Great Barrier Reef by marine biologist and photographer Johnny Gaskell.

The sounds are characterised by short, sharp ‘clicks’ and likely serve as a warning or defence signal. Both species often form large groups, so it may alert others to potential danger, suggesting a role in intraspecific communication! The mechanism is still unclear 🤔 but it appears they are produced through rapid movement of the jaw or head and spiracles behind the eye. 

 Almost 990 species of bony #fish have been shown to actively produce sounds, but until now #elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, and skates) have been considered silent. We show that this is a misconception, and more #research into this ability is needed! Turns out we have much to learn about life beneath the waves… 

 Given these observations were captured opportunistically by different people, we expect more to come to light in these and possibly by other species. If you’ve seen something similar, please get in touch! 

 The paper is fairly short and you don’t need specialist skills to understand most of it, so do take a read & let us know what you think 👍. 

The early view pre-typesetting version is up now here:

https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3812 

(all versions will be open access and free to read)

Arapaima Plushie

The main difference between Darkwing’s and Negaduck’s relationships with their daughters

Sharktember: Big Mouth Squad (and yet they eat the smallest things in the ocean)

Starry Seas part 2 for Redbubble!

(part 1)

(part 3)

Running somewhere

Adult and juvenile vaquita (Phocoena sinus) skeletons displayed at Museo Laberinto de las Ciencias in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. [x]