An octopus from the National Aquarium of New Zealand has made a brave dash for freedom.The most popular theory is that Inky the octopus broke out of his tank in the middle of the night and proceeded to slither down a 50 meter drainpipe that led out into the waters of Hawke’s BayInky had been a resident at New Zealand's National Aquarium in Napier for two years and staff believe that he c...
All things bright and beautiful all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful...on second thoughts, when the animals went in two by two, it was a good job that these vile specimens didn't need to go in the ark!It is often said that true beauty radiates from within...this applies to fish too, but sadly, this lot don't have much going for them. We know this might be shallow, but h...
An African killifish is believed to be the fastest growing vertebrate animal in the world.It's a real case of "grow fast die young" for the Nothobranchius kadleci killifish which can be reproducing just 17 days after hatching.Some eggs reach hatching stage in 15 days meaning they also have the shortest minimum generation time in vertebrates.Dr Martin Reichard and colleagues from the ...
New research has found that small prey fish are capable of growing an extra eye on their rear fins to distract predators and increase their chance of survival.Australian researchers found that after constant threats of being eaten, small fish grow a spot on their fins that looks like an eye.Experts say that while the extra eye does not actually help the fish to see any better or increase t...
Aquarists at Blue Planet Aquarium are hoping to breed one of the world’s smallest fish species.The freshwater fish, known as pygmy glass danios, measure just 10 mm when fully grown.James Dale from the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire Oaks said: “We’re currently looking after a shoal of 40 fish which were donated by Bolton Museum. The museum was the first place in the wo...
The elusive sea unicorn has been spotted off the coast of Tasmania and unlike the seahorse it's an extremely rare sight.The Pyrostremma spinosum is a rare creature with a hollow cylindrical body made up of thousands of tiny creatures called zooids that feed on plankton.The 'unicorn of the sea' can grow up to 30 metres long. The 'horn' is made up of the zooids which are just a few millimetr...
The recent heatwave has seen a dramatic increase in jellyfish around Britain's costs, researchers say.The much colder weather in the spring saw a decline in jellies, but The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) say that several species are now rapidly increasing in numbers thanks to the warm weather.Despite their fascinating beauty, magical colours, mushroom-like body and beautiful flowing ...
Scientists have discovered the fossil of a 52ft fish - longer than a double decker bus.The huge plankton-eating fish, named Leedsichthys lived 160 million years ago and is thought to have been made extinct at the same time as the dinosaurs.Researchers from the University of Bristol believe that the fish could have reached around nine metres long in 20 years, before reaching 16.5m long over...
A fish has become a talented footballer and is able to score goals despite his pitch being severely waterlogged.Goldfish, Span, is able to dribble a tiny football across a submerged pitch in his tank before tapping it into the net.Owner, Peter Bettison, 80, has made a hobby of training Span to become a talented sports star and set him up on an intensive training course.Peter, from Exet...
Image courtesy of Keng LyeAn artist has created stunning optical illusions which may look like fish upon first glance, but in fact are 3D works of art.Keng Lye, from Singapore, has created photo realistic three-dimensional paintings purely from layers of paint and resin.There’s a box which seems to be filled with lively, vibrant goldfish, a tiny terrapin swimming merrily in a bowl a...