Unique way fish identify their species

TP123 · 03/02/2010, 08:36 AM

I figured this would be an interesting article for this community.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/sc...ml?ref=science

Now for all difficult species IDs, we'll require a photograph with a UV filter in addition to the usual color photo.

skibum9884 · 03/02/2010, 09:00 AM

Very interesting. Thanks for this. I always wondered how they could tell.

The question that still bothers me is how they can identify their own species (i.e. - how does a particular damsel know it is a damsel and not a chromis!). Obviously they've never seen themselves in a mirror, and even if they could, probably could not understand they are seeing a reflection.

I'm assuming this must be ingrained in some way, as it is seen in other animals as well.

03/02/2010, 08:36 AM	#1
TP123 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 205	Unique way fish identify their species I figured this would be an interesting article for this community. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/sc...ml?ref=science Now for all difficult species IDs, we'll require a photograph with a UV filter in addition to the usual color photo.

03/02/2010, 09:00 AM	#2
skibum9884 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,157	Very interesting. Thanks for this. I always wondered how they could tell. The question that still bothers me is how they can identify their own species (i.e. - how does a particular damsel know it is a damsel and not a chromis!). Obviously they've never seen themselves in a mirror, and even if they could, probably could not understand they are seeing a reflection. I'm assuming this must be ingrained in some way, as it is seen in other animals as well.