Jun 122014
 

Original story John Long, Flinders University, at The Conversation

It looked more like the worm on an angler’s hook than any living fish we might recognise today but it still takes the record for the oldest known fish to date.
An artist’s reconstruction of Metaspriggina walcotti, the world’s oldest definite fish. Artwork by Marianne Collins

An artist’s reconstruction of Metaspriggina walcotti, the world’s oldest definite fish. Artwork by Marianne Collins

The first fossil fishes are known from scant and often ambiguous fossil remains, and research published today in Nature gives us the first clear picture of exactly what these earliest fishes were really like. Continue reading »

Jun 102014
 

Media release by LSU Research News

Animals incorporate a number of unique methods for detecting prey, but for the Japanese sea catfish, Plotosus japonicus, it is especially tricky given the dark murky waters where it resides.
Plotosus japonicus, the Japanese sea catfish.

Plotosus japonicus, the Japanese sea catfish.

John Caprio, George C. Kent Professor of Biological Sciences at LSU, and colleagues from Kagoshima University in Japan have identified that these fish are equipped with sensors that can locate prey by detecting slight changes in the water’s pH level. Continue reading »

Jun 062014
 

Original story at ABC News

You would be happy with a double eagle on the golf course, but a pair of crocs is enough to make any player choke.
Two crocodiles have been moved to a golf course near Cairns. Photo: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Two crocodiles have been moved to a golf course near Cairns. Photo: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Two crocodiles, both about a metre long, have taken up residence at a Yorkeys Knob golf club near the far north Queensland city of Cairns.

But Half Moon Bay Golf Course manager Greg Ferry reckons they are more of a novelty than a threat.

“A few of the golfers are mentioning there’s a few other hazards around,” he said.

“They aren’t really much of a danger at the moment, they’re a bit of a joke and people are interested in having a look at them.”

The pair, who live in separate lakes on the club’s grounds, come within about 15 metres of a couple of the holes on the course.

Warning signs are dotted around the place and rangers are monitoring the reptiles to ensure they do not pose a danger to golfers. Continue reading »

May 232014
 

Original story by Angela Fedele, Sourceable

Design works have officially commenced on the $50 million aquarium, which has been described as a “bold and confident architectural statement” for the town.
A tectonic façade that symbolises the movement of the earth will serve as the iconic architectural feature of the new Cairns Aquarium and Research Centre.

A tectonic façade that symbolises the movement of the earth will serve as the iconic architectural feature of the new Cairns Aquarium and Research Centre.

The building was a collaborative design project between Peddle Thorp Architects (PTA) and Architects Ellick and Partners. PTA has already completed nine aquarium projects, including Melbourne Aquarium’s Antarctic Exhibit and the fish tank which sits within the city’s Royal Children’s Hospital. Continue reading »

May 232014
 

Original story by Daniel Meers, The Cairns Post

TALK about having a frog in your throat! A North Queensland angler was left stunned after he found a live green tree frog sitting inside the throat of a jungle perch he caught on the weekend.

SURPRISE: Angus James caught a Jungle Perch in North Queensland and when he removed the hook he found a frog inside it's mouth, Photo: Angus James

SURPRISE: Angus James caught a Jungle Perch in North Queensland and when he removed the hook he found a frog inside it’s mouth. Photo: Angus James

Angus James began unhooking the fish to throw back in the water when he saw the frog, who leapt over his head to freedom. Continue reading »

May 222014
 

News release from Fisheries Queensland

The Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland is back by popular demand.

Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland by Louise Johns.

Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland by Louise Johns.

First printed in 2006, the popular publication is a valuable resource for local governments, students, teachers, community groups, fishers and people with an interest in Queensland’s coastal environment.

Author and senior fisheries biologist, Louise Johns, said the new and improved guide would help people to correctly identify key marine plant species in saltmarsh fish habitats and provide them with a greater appreciation of the importance of the saltmarsh environment.

“Marine plants, including saltmarsh vegetation, are protected in Queensland because of the valuable role they play in ensuring sustainable fish habitats and fisheries production,” Ms Johns said.

“Saltmarshes provide food for aquatic species and recycle nutrients.

“It is important that people are able to identify saltmarsh habitats and do their part to protect this integral fisheries ecosystem.

“The 76-page guide provides colour photographs, detailed descriptions, plant distribution maps and identification keys for the 32 most widespread saltmarsh species in Queensland’s coastal zone.

“It’s a simple, user-friendly guide that will make it easier to identify the species and provide a better understanding of this important ecosystem.

To order your free copy of the Field guide to common saltmarsh plants of Queensland, call 13 25 23.

 

May 212014
 

Original story by Jon Coghill and Annie Gaffney, ABC Sunshine Coast

A bright purple, alien-like jellyfish has washed up on Coolum Beach and an expert says it may be a new species.

Lifeguard Jamie Smith says a local fisherman alerted him and his partner to the discovery after pulling the sea creature up on to the beach to avoid getting stung.

Coolum lifeguards have never seen a jellyfish like this. Photo: Coolum lifeguards/Jamie Smith

Coolum lifeguards have never seen a jellyfish like this. Photo: Coolum lifeguards/Jamie Smith

“The thing that struck me was how long the tentacles [are] and the colour,” Mr Smith said. Continue reading »

May 192014
 

Original story by Stephen Garnett, Charles Darwin University and Kerstin Zander, Charles Darwin University at The Conversation

Big Ritchie looks up from his pile of bananas, unperturbed by the flock of tourists taking his photo. Sprawled around him, mother orangutans* and their fluffy orange babies groom affectionately, chase each other, hang upside down, or wander off and vanish into the nearby forest canopy.
new research shows seeing orangutans like Big Ritchie in conservation areas can raise vital support to protect his cousins in the wild. Photo: CC BY-SA

new research shows seeing orangutans like Big Ritchie in conservation areas can raise vital support to protect his cousins in the wild. Photo: CC BY-SA

Fewer than 2,000 orangutans are left living in the wild in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with nearly all truly wild ones confined to a remote site on the Indonesian border. It’s why thousands of tourists and local Sarawak people come to places like this – the popular Semenggoh Nature Reserve – to see orangutans semi-wild in a reserve or captive in a rehabilitation centre. Continue reading »

May 082014
 

Original story by Lydia Hales, ABC Science

Male guppies produce higher quality sperm when courting their sisters, which may hinder females’ efforts to reduce inbreeding, according to new research.
Ejaculates from males produced for siblings contained faster swimming sperm than those for unrelated females Photo: Dr Clelia Gasparini

Ejaculates from males produced for siblings contained faster swimming sperm than those for unrelated females Photo: Dr Clelia Gasparini

Professor Jonathan Evans, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Western Australia, says the research is one of few projects addressing the role of males in inbreeding avoidance.

Breeding between related individuals can result in harmful versions of genes being expressed, with previous guppy studies finding inbred offspring had lower survival rates, and reduced size and fertility.

In this latest study, published the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, two full-sibling male guppies (Poecilia reticulata), were chosen from each of 23 families.

After four months of life in a single-sex tank, they were placed in experimental tanks which held either a full-sibling female or unrelated female inside a perforated, clear drinking bottle.

This prevented physical contact, allowing the researchers to analyse courtship and ejaculates over a period of 40 days.

They expected the males would expend themselves less for sisters, which was the case in courtship behaviours. Continue reading »

May 032014
 

Press release from Molecular Biology and Evolution (Oxford University Press) at EurekAlert

Take a muscle cell, modify it over millions of years, and you end up with an exciting and literally shocking evolutionary result: the electric fish.
Electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) at the New England Aquarium. Photo: Steven G. Johnson/Wikimedia Commons

Electric eel (Electrophorus electricus) at the New England Aquarium. Photo: Steven G. Johnson/Wikimedia Commons.

Electric fish have evolved several times in varying levels of complexity. Two groups of electric fish, one in Africa (Mormyroids) and one in South America (Gymnotiforms), have independently evolved sophisticated communication systems using these cells. By emitting and sensing weak electrical signals, the fish have bypassed the usual means of communication, such as with sounds and visual signals, and go directly to electrical signals. This allows them to quietly “talk” to each other in the dark so that most predators can’t eavesdrop. Both groups of fish are incredibly diverse; one species, the famous electric eel of South America, even evolved such strong and intense electric signals that it can electrocute its prey. Continue reading »