Adventure Ausrama Blog

As meteorologists tell us that natural disasters are becoming regular occurrences due to climate change, so the threat to certain animals species increases. Marine animals are in serious danger. The sea is warming up. It is accepted that whales beaching themselves is "normal". However, dugong doing the same thing is not. CSIRO which is always at the forefront of Australian research says that south-eastern and north-western sea regions around Australia have become significantly warmer. As some species move or even die out and new species arrive the ecological dynamic is disrupted. Death from new diseases becomes the norm. New species eat the food that native creatures eat, so marine animals that have been in the same place for thousands of years are doubly threatened. The future looks bleak. The climate could level off and remain changed but stabilize. On the other hand, change could be ongoing and the variation in marine species could decline. This could affect fo

There are new facts about the evolution of fish. An ancient fish fossil has provided preserved muscle tissue. European and Australian scientists have examined a placoderm fossil 380 million years old. Early fish did not have moving jaws with joints. Their mouths were fixed partially open, though they could still move. Jaw structure was presumed to be like sharks, because that was taken to be a living example. The fossil has changed this assumption. It shows a pronounced shoulder structure. From this girdle neck muscles attached to a dermal joint. So the head moved relative to the body but the jaw did not. Sharks do not have joints in the neck - their necks are flexible. Another difference is musculature in the abdomen much like four-limbed vertebrates such as horses. Rather than being a evolutionary step for four-legged animals it was fully developed by placoderms, the first vertebrate with armoured plates and no teeth. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://w

Climate change can cause changes in behavior. As water becomes warmer so some species of fish become aggressive. Some fish are inherently timid while others are bold. In experiments on fish from the Australian Barrier reef, when water was slowly warmed normally timid fish became aggressive. Their rate of activity increased as well. Evolution has created fish that fit into a niche where survival depends on a fish being very careful about its surroundings. If they openly attack larger fish it could mean the smaller ones will be eaten. It is possible that similar changes will occur with reptiles, amphibians, ectotherms and even mammals. If timid animals become bold then they could be killed off by predators or by humans using harvesting equipment trying to catch other animals for food. Only a very small increase in temperature led to the change. In the tests, fish were bred in captivity then released into holding tanks where the water was slowly warmed. They had no chance to socializ

Over recent years there has been a host of controversial claims about fish oil, calcium and glucosamine. The questions are do these supplements do any good and do they all have to be taken? Some doctors say take them and other GPs say claims about them are nonsense. Some tests have been done. It has still not been proven that taking calcium prevents deterioration of bones in old age. And there is no proof that glucosamine gets into joints thus reducing pain. Tests on fish oil offer some hope of benefit. During research into omega 3 (which is in fish oil) on young children a potential benefit came to light. It seems that premature birth is delayed when fish oil is taken. Omega 3 prolongs pregnancy. Subjects who took the supplement also had larger babies. Their birth date was later than predicted. Of course, this brings up another question: Are heavier babies healthier? As the cause of premature birth is unknown perhaps this benefit overrides the perceived consequences of la

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"Why can't we have a fish bowl like other homes?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Funny Animal Photos Vista Computer Solutions Blog ------- Australian Blog -------

For years scientists told us what we wanted to believe - that fish have short memories only lasting one lap of the fish bowl. Now the truth has got out. They are intelligent creatures who can learn to do things and can even deceive other animals. Once attacked, if they escape, they remember which predator tried to kill them. Unlike humans, however, there is a cost when they use their intelligence. If they are given one fish for food they are very efficient in catching it, but if given two types of prey they apparently become confused and their effectiveness declines. Fish interact in a social way. They recognize familiar others and modify their behavior accordingly. Siamese fighting fish will take advantage of a weak fighter by observing fish fights and readily attacking the weaker fish. Fish that clean others act busy when potential "customers' are watching. In a way they advertise. The myth about fish having no memory or even intelligence is most likely promulgated to ju

There has been a breakthrough in the research on box jellyfish. They have thousands of stinging cells on their ten-foot long tentacles. New discoveries have been made into their evolution. This will help in finding antivenom and new treatment for stings to humans. Some species of jelly fish have good sight: they have 24 eyes, can sense light and form images of their surroundings. Little is known, however, about what they actually see. They don't need to see to mate. Females and males just get together and fertilize eggs in a mass spawning, though some species do appear to mate one-on-one. The most dangerous jelly fish, in Australia, is the Box Jellyfish (sea wasp or stinger). Some can immobilize while others can kill. The Portuguese man of war is held to be very dangerous, but despite its name it cannot kill humans. Chironex flecken , an Australian box jellyfish, can be lethal. A similar type, Chironex yamaguchii , has killed people in Japan. Evolution of jellyfish has been p

An audience affects the behavior of mating male fish. If a male Atlantic Molly ( Poecilia mexicana ) is left alone he will try to mate with the healthiest looking female - the best female in his eyes. If there are other males in the vicinity he will not choose this female. It may be thought that he is giving up. This is not the case. He is thinking strategically. By choosing a less desirable female he leads other males away from the intended target best female. The male hopes to mate with this female later when the other rival males have gone. Some males are just too ordinary and have to mate with lesser females because other fitter males stop them getting close to "ideal" females. Mating with any female is better than not mating at all. This behavior could be present in humans. When a group of young men meet with a group of young females the handsomest men can be expected to pair off with the prettiest young ladies. The less attractive have to make do with second be

Animals will not only die if they remain in regions affected by global warning, they will not know what they are doing. Research shows that rising carbon dioxide changes the behavior of fish. Carbon dioxide makes the acidity of ocean water rise. Like humans, fish rely on nerve cells to "perceive" the environment they live in, like detecting hot and cost, pain or painless. They also have to rely on environmental cues to behave in a particular way. Fish smell predators so they normally move away from them, but high acidity in the water makes the smell attractive. Small fish move too close to predators, so they are easily caught and eaten. Fish behave this way due to their nerve cells trying to maintain a balance with the environment. With a rise in carbon dioxide and acidity, bicarbonate and chloride levels rise inside nerve cells, so a feeling of security is not turned off by the smell of predators. A switching chemical, GABA, becomes irregular opening nerves which

The Timor region is a fascinating place to study early humans. At the eastern end of East Timor fish hooks made from shells have been found. They were among bones of more than 2,800 fish. Jerimalai cave was a home for humans up to 42,000 years ago. The fish hooks were used between 23,000 and 16,000 years before the present. Deep sea pelagic fish were the target food. Tuna bones were abundant. Professor Sue O'Connor based at the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University led the research. The varieties of fish identified showed that ancient humans were skilled fishermen. Fishing for tuna is complex even today. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthropology

Our ancestors not only fished rivers and the coastline. They caught marine food in the deep ocean. It is known that people travelled across oceans 50,000 years ago. However, proof that they could catch fish in the deep sea went back only 12,000 years. New evidence shows that Man ate fish from the ocean further back than 12,000 years. In caves on the island of East Timor remains of tuna and other large fish have been found. East Timor was "out of bounds" for paleontologists until recently because of the ongoing troubles with Indonesia. Information on ancient Man is changing scientific knowledge about our ancestors. Bone fish hooks dating back 42,000 years have been found there. The diet of early Timorese was varied. It included birds, rodents, bats, snakes turtles and fish. Few large animals lived there. Half of the fish found were tuna, a fast moving fish that would have taken great skill to catch. Using nets was the only way, so they had an advanced culture. http:/

A study on lungfish, bony fish and cartilaginous fish has a great deal to offer in understanding development of legs for life on land. Lungfish are ancient ancestors of tetrapods - four legged animals. Walking on their fins and breathing air, lungfish bravely moved onto the land. Research has relied on bones preserved as fossils, but muscles cannot be "saved" in this way. A fetus shows ancient stages in a creatures development. This is why a human fetus seems to be reptile-like in its early stages. Examining muscle development of modern lungfish is very informative. Tests were also done on cartilaginous fish such as sharks and ordinary fish. Embryos of cartilaginous and bony fish were genetically altered to promote growth of precursor pelvic fins that in lungfish became legs. Engineered cells were made to emit red and green light. The study on muscles highlighted the fact that bony fish evolved legs while cartilaginous fish did not. Pelvic muscles of bony fish are a

Coral reefs may look okay but on closer examination they may be dying. Overfishing, particularly in the Indian Ocean, causes eight steps that lead to reef collapse. Each step is a stage toward the end of a reef. Keeping fish numbers up is important. When the level falls below 1000 kilograms of fish per hectare seaweed growth increases as well as urchin activity. This is a major indication of a problem. If fish density falls below 300 kilograms a crisis is reached. Until now, coral cover has been used as a measure of coral health. This research shows that coral cover is the last threshold: the reef is heading toward ecosystem collapse. It is during the first three stages that constructive change will save a reef. Fishing should be regulated. If a reef is in the final five stages, it is near impossible to save it. Only marine reserves have really healthy coral reefs because fishing is restricted. Unmonitored reefs fare the worst. A management system for each reef needs to be

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It's well known that fish living near coral are colored the same as Othe background for protection from predators. The Harlequin filefish (orange spotted filefish), Oxymonacanthus longirostris , goes to extremes to blend into the coral it lives in. The fish has a hook on the back of its head that it uses to hook onto coral so it can sleep in peace. The shape with the polka-dot blue and yellow spots on its body perfectly match the coral it lives in. Its fin is the same color as the coral's growing tip. It blends in so well predators just swim past them. When fish use shape and color to match background coral the system is called masquerading. Using color alone is called crypsis. Insects look like plants that they live in, but coral fish have perfected camouflage. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ http://adventure--australia.blo

Australian moths and butterflies are being barcoded. There are 10,000 species in Australia and 65 per cent of them have been coded, 28,000 specimens in all. They are not flying around with a tag on them. DNA is analyzed then recorded with an image of a specimen in a barcode system. The database is a combined project by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and CSIRO's Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC). It is the first time such a system has been used to categorize a group of insects in a country. This is the beginning. Plans are in train to record most organisms worldwide. The technology has been used to determine if wrongly named fish are being sold. It will be used to identify dangerous pests coming into Australia. Species will now be more effectively categorised in research. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ http://a

It seems humans know just about everything. This is a myth really. A new species of jellyfish has be seen in Coffs Harbour, NSW. It seems the marine creature has been there for a long time. The mystery "object" is a box jellyfish that appears to be totally harmless. It is unlike the Irujandji and is smaller than the dangerous Chironex flecker box jellyfish. Fishermen have been seeing the new jellyfish for sometime but authorities took no notice. A game crew took photos of the animal last week. Finally "professionals" acted and arrangements are being made to catch some specimens. Fish of all kinds are moving south as the temperature of the ocean increases due to climate change. It is believed the visiting jellyfish come from more northern climes. Usually jellyfish do not move south because they can be harmed by rougher seas. They prefer the warm, calmer tropics. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feed

"I am not a plastic model!" http://vistacomputersolutions.blogspot.com/ ~~~~~ Funny Animal Photos ~~~~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Consumers will have to learn to do without. If we want our children to enjoy seafood we will have to eat less of it now. That means paying a higher price. A guide has been put out by the Australian Conservation Society to make people aware of what species are in danger. This Christmas consumers have bought lobster, bugs and mackerel. It is debatable as to whether all of these are actually threatened. Not everyone is in favor of informing the general public about the need for change in the seafood industry. The Queensland Seafood Industry Association, in particular retailers the body represents, are angry because they fear a fall in income. They are saying the industry is already struggling. Yes, it is struggling because seafood is becoming more difficult to supply. It is really a case of " someone has to pay and it won't be us ". They say fishing boats have been bought and licensing fees have been paid. The reality is, however, that if fishing is not cut back there will n