Seriously Fish

Preserved specimens of R. dusonensis (top) and R. tornieri (bottom), both collected from the Sungai (river) Gelam, Sumatra © Ng & Kottelat

The identities of both species have been unclear for a number of decades but are resolved in a new paper by ichthyologists Heok Hee Ng and Maurice Kottelat published in the journal ‘Zootaxa’ last week. Continue reading »

Specimen after being removed from the body of its mother © Michael Wagner

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first-ever, two-headed bull shark.

The study, led by Michigan State University and appearing in the Journal of Fish Biology, confirmed the specimen, found in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011, was a single shark with two heads, rather than conjoined twins. Continue reading »

© Klaus Rudloff

A modified version of an eye test used to assess visual acuity in the military has been given to archerfish by scientists to help explain how these remarkable fish are able to accurately spit down tiny insects high above the water’s surface. Continue reading »

K. vitreolus is well-known to aquarists but has been misidentified for at least 80 years. © Unimati.dk

Over the last few decades the aquarium glass catfish has generally been referred to as Kryptopterus bicirrhis or, more recently, K. minor in both aquarium and scientific literature, but a new paper by Drs. Heok Hee Ng and Maurice Kottelat reveals that this popular species has in fact been misidentified for over eighty years. Continue reading »