Fish Feces Builds Beautiful Beaches

If you ever find yourself in the Maldives laying on a gorgeous white sand beach, think of where that sand came from. Parrotfish feces. Once you get passed that initial disgust, enjoy your time at the beautiful beach. 

The islands of the Maldives are considered coral archipelago i.e. they were built from the pieces of coral and other sedimates. The coral pieces originate from nearby reefs and the help of parrotfish chomping them to pieces.  

Geologist Christ Perry - "In the case of at least one island, Vakkaru, the sediment can mostly be traced back to two species of parrotfish."

Using their unique teeth, which are fused together to look like a parrot's beak, they break part and scrape against the croal reef to eat the algae and coral poylps. More teeth at the back of their throats pulverize the coral into sand, which is passed through in the fishes’ feces and eventually builds up in piles.

"Parrotfish can eat tons of coral in a year, so they’re an important source of this sediment. At Vakkaru, Perry and his research team found that the local parrotfish produce around 1.5 million pounds of sediment each year and contribute some 85 percent of what goes into building and maintaining the island’s beaches."

In order to maintain the Maldives beaches, due to sea-level rise may wipe away the island, researches suggest maintaining and protecting the parrot fish that live around the area. Otherwise, it may just be a matter of time until these islands are no more.

Sources: http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2015/04/27/G36623.1.abstract

http://www.britannica.com/science/coral-island

Fish probably have better taste that you

Can fish taste?
Short answer - yes - Long answer - Probably better than you!

Fish have taste buds not just on their tongues but also on their lips and bodies! Since taste buds work by moisture, and fish are surrounded by water - hopefully all the time - taste buds can exist and do exist on their bodies and fins.


Like a snake tasting the air to find nearby food, they're able to do the same with greater precision. Sometimes wonder how a fish is able to find that pellet the same colour as your gravel, it's not their eyesight that helps them.

"Bottom-feeders like catfish are especially keen tasters, which helps them locate edible morsels in muddy, dark waters. The channel catfish has around 680,000 taste buds all over its body, including on its whisker-like barbels. That’s an especially high number of taste buds compared to most other animals (humans have about 5,000 in their mouths)." - Mental floss

Keep this in mind when you're feeding fish!

Source: Can Fish Taste? 

Sea bunnies - The current craze

Looking for a new aquatic pet? This is currently the craze in Japan:

Sea bunnies aka Jorunna parva are less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long and can be found throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean from South Africa to the central Pacific. Like all the sea slugs in the group containing J. parva, called the dorid nudibranchs, the sea bunny eat sponges.

Jorunna parva's fur-like coat is due to bunches of tiny rods, called caryophyllidia, that cover the animal's back. They're arranged around little knobs that are sometimes black, giving the sea bunny its speckled appearance.

The sea bunny, aka sea slugs - nudibranchs, is a hermaphrodite. They have both male and female reproductive organs - Meaning when they mate they both exchange sperm and fertilize an egg.

The cuddly-looking creatures come armed with "incredibly long copulatory spines," says Valdés. The copulatory spines essentially the same thing as a dart with snails - Consider it to be a spear that pierces the partner during the mating process. This allows it to stay attached while the exchange of sperm takes place.

Sea bunnies don't have many predators as they're considered vdery toxic. They get their toxicity from the food it eats - Sponges.  Some of their toxins are also used in cancer treatments for people

And yes the do come in different colours. In fact, they're likely to be found in different colours than the popularized white ones.

Source: Sea Bunnies: Japan Is Going Crazy About These Furry Sea Slugs | Bored Panda
National Geographic - Sea slug nudibrach sea bunny ocean animales

Triple coloured seaweed!

When we think of seaweed - just algae - Se often think of shades of green in the water. Some may know of different colours of seaweed or moss, but few know of ont plant carrying three diferent colours.

Chondrus Sripus, aka Irish Moss, appears to have three distinct colours - Red, green and blue! This is possibly due to a trait that helps protect seaweed from UV light. Either way its pretty cool and would be an interesting addition to any aquarium.

I'm curious to hear if anyone is keeping this addition in their aquarium

"When covered in water and illuminated by the sun, the deep red fronds of the Irish moss, Chondrus crispus, reflect some blue light too, providing an iridescent sheen. It’s the result of a series of thin transparent protective layers that happen to be the right thickness to reflect the blue light, points out New Scientist. It’s unclear why the trait may have evolved"

Source: Structural colour in Chondrus crispus : Scientific Reports : Nature Publishing Group

Draw your own aquarium

Not ready to commit your to maintaining an aquarium? Wanting the interactive experience of owning fish? Here's something that might satisfy your want.

"Picturerium—an aquarium that hooks up to your smartphone—lets you dream up and draw your own fishy friends." - Mental floss

While this seems to only be available in Japan at the moment - I have a feeling it won't be long until this hits the shelves at your Local Fish Store.

One thing I'm curious about is how my horrible artistic skills will translate into creating digital aquatic life? I don't know if i'm ready for that kind of responsibility!