Beware of the beautiful but poisonous mandarinfish - Australian ... - Australian Geographic

Home Blogs Creatura Blog Beware of the beautiful but poisonous mandarinfish

Contributor

Bec Crew

Contributor

Bec Crew

Bec Crew is a Sydney-based science communicator with a love for weird and wonderful animals. From strange behaviours and special adaptations to newly discovered species and the researchers who find them, her topics celebrate how alien yet relatable so many of the creatures that live amongst us can be.

By Bec Crew • May 8, 2015

The mandarinfish is one of only two known species that produces a blue pigment. Image credit: Jim Trodel/Flickr

It may look pretty, but this fish uses both poison and a foul stench to keep predators at bay.

IT'S ARGUABLY THE most beautiful fish in the ocean, but the mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) has got so much more going on for it than all those pretty colours.

At home in the sheltered lagoons and inshore reefs of the Pacific Ocean, ranging from the Ryukyu Islands off the coast of Japan, to warm Australian waters, this little dragonet is covered in tiny spines to inject a toxic mucus into anyone who tries to handle and/or eat it.

The mandarinfish contains two types of secretary cells in its colourful epidermis – one that produces a thick mucus coating to protect it from the elements, and another that produces a toxin to protect it from predators. And not only is this toxic mucus coating dangerous, particularly if it makes it into a predator's open wound, but reportedly, it smells disgusting.

"Every scientist and book [who] talks about the mandarinfish makes mention of its strong, unpleasant smell," says Esther Inglis-Arkell at io9. "That stink is not incidental. The mandarinfish needs the smell, and the spines, because it lacks one of the most basic protective measures in the marine world: It doesn't have scales."

There's nothing like thick mucus and an unpleasant stench to turn someone off their potential meal.

Mandarinfish produces blue pigment

And credit where credit's due, because it's not easy looking this good and smelling that bad: the mandarinfish is one of just two confirmed species in the world that can produce its own blue colouring. Along with its close relative, the psychedelic mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus), the mandarindish produces 'cyanophores' – blue pigmented, light-reflecting cells – to achieve its vibrant colouring.

As I mentioned previously, the vast majority of blue-hued creatures on Earth have to resort to elaborate optical illusions to brighten themselves up, with microscopic layers of colourless crystals in their skin layered in such a way that they reflect blue light back at any onlooker.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post Posted: 05 Jun 2016 12:00 AM PDT With exacting precision, the surgeon inserted the scalpel above the eyeball and cut out a snotty deposit of fatty tissue. The routine eye-lift was nearly complete when suddenly the patient awoke, suffocating, and began to flop about on the table. The audience gasped. Knowing time was of the essence, the surgeon scooped up the patient in his arms, raced across the stage, and dropped her into a tank of water. She revived. Because she was a fish. Yes, fish eye-lifts exist. As do fin jobs and tail tucks. The operating theater was a mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a pet expo was under way. As for the patient, she survived, her formerly droopy eyes now bright and perky. A good thing, too, as this was no ordinary goldfish but rather an Asian arowana, the world's most expensive aquarium denizen, rumored to sell for as mu
Read more

NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire

Image
NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST ALBANY, Ore. , March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NilocG launches a new website for planted tank enthusiasts to gather and make THRIVE, a plant fertilizer that assures planted tank aquascapes flourish while eliminating the need for multiple products more readily available online. The company also takes it a step further in the industry, making its flagship product easy to dose, super-concentrated, and an all-in-one solution based on an effective EL dosing method with all essential micro and macronutrients. Continue Reading Thrive fertilizer: North America's most trusted aquarium plant fertilizer Colin Grice , CEO, a self-described planted tank lover, re
Read more

Catching Dory: selling aquarium fish supports coastal livelihoods in Indonesia | npj Ocean Sustainability - Nature.com

Image
Abstract The global marine aquarium trade has created new local markets across the planet, including in Indonesia, now the second-largest exporting country of marine aquarium fish in the world. Participating in the global aquarium trade has been touted as a potentially sustainable addition to fisher livelihoods, but scant data exist showing the numbers of fish coming off the reef and how those fish contribute to income. To determine how participants in the trade incorporate aquarium species in their livelihoods, we examine source-level aquarium fish collecting and trading data in the Banggai Archipelago, a region in Central Sulawesi that has become a significant source for popular aquarium, also known as ornamental, fish species. Using a sustainable livelihoods lens, we examine this data to understand how participants in the aquarium trade both contribute to as well as benefit from the trade and consider how their participation relates to emerging Blue Justice principles. From one year
Read more