Fish, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2017

Why a New York Bay Is Crucial to Baby Sand Tiger Sharks

Dr. Merry Camhi is director of the WCS New York Aquarium's New York Seascape Program, an initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Society. She has a doctorate in ecology from Rutgers University. Camhi contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Yes, it's that special time again —...

Feb 28, 2017

'Sharknado' Down Under? Cyclone Debbie Deposits Shark on a Street

Forget about the Sharknado film series. A town in Australia experienced a real-life shark-cyclone of sorts when a shark washed up on the street after Cyclone Debbie hit the area, according to news reports. The tropical cyclone hit the Australian state of Queensland this week, with heavy rainfall causing flash...

Nov 30, 2018

Climate Change Is Making Sharks Right-Handed

The team of biologists from Macquarie University in Sydney knew from previous research that warming ocean temperatures alter the way fish grow and develop. The researchers wanted to find out whether these changes would also affect fish behavior — specifically, whether sharks raised in a tank warmed to projected end-of-century...

Mar 31, 2018

This Creepy Fish Packs 'Switchblades' in Its Face and Could Kill You with Its Venom

If you invite the venomous, armored stonefish to a party, know this: It's going to bring not one, but two switchblades — and it can't check them at the door, because these weapons are embedded in its skull. Scientists recently discovered these switchblades, or lachrymal sabers, in a group of...

Dec 31, 2017

Frozen Sharks Washing Up on Cape Cod

As the Arctic blast continues to roil the Eastern Seaboard with gusty winds and frigid temperatures, at least four thresher sharks have been found frozen off the coast of Cape Cod. Is Old Man Winter to blame? Probably not, as the sharks likely died not from hypothermia but from stranding...

Jul 31, 2019

A Man Accidentally Swallowed a Fish Bone. It Tore a Hole Through His Intestine.

After a man accidentally swallowed a tiny fish bone, it tore a hole through his intestine. The 73-year-old man, who lives in Japan, went to the emergency room after he developed sudden and severe pain in his lower abdomen, according to a report of the man's case, which is published...

May 31, 2019

Flushed Goldfish Grew to Be Kitten-Size in Niagara River

A monstrously huge goldfish was recently captured in the Niagara River in New York. The goldfish was presumably a discarded house pet that may have been illegally released or survived a traumatic flush down a toilet. Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper (BNW), a nonprofit working to protect and restore the Niagara River...

Feb 28, 2019

The Megalodon Spent Tens of Millions of Years Honing Its Lethal, Knife-Like Teeth

But nature didn't just hand these instant-killing weapons to these prehistoric sharks, called megalodons. Rather, it took millions of years for the teeth to evolve into their final, lethal form, according to a new study published on March 1 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. To understand the evolution of...

Feb 28, 2019

Enormous Great White Shark Pregnant with Record 14 Pups Was Caught and Sold in Taiwan

A large, female great white shark pregnant with a record 14 pups was accidentally caught by fishers off the coast of Taiwan and sold at a fish market on Wednesday (March 20). The enormous mamma was purchased for less than $2,000 by a Taiwanese taxidermy company, Taiwan English News reported....

Jan 31, 2019

What the Heck Is a Blobfish?

The canonical blobfish picture elicits squeals of delight and shudders of horror, embodying an eye-catching blend of cute and ugly somewhat unfamiliar to the Western aesthetic (although it's rather popular in Japan). With its derpy frown, glistening flesh and an impossibly human-looking nose reminiscent of the schnoz on Ziggy and...

Nov 30, 2020

Flying fish: Real fish, but not really flying

In warm ocean waters around the world, you may see a strange sight: A fish leaping from the water and soaring dozens of meters before returning to the ocean's depths. Early Mediterranean sailors thought these flying fish returned to the shore at night to sleep, and therefore called this family...

Jun 30, 2020

Scientists accidentally create 'impossible' hybrid fish

It shouldn't have been possible, but it was: The birth of long-nosed, spiky-finned hybrids of Russian sturgeons and American paddlefish. Hungarian scientists announced in May in the journal Genes that they had accidentally created a hybrid of the two endangered species, which they have dubbed the sturddlefish. There are about...

May 31, 2020

Mysterious scars on Hawaiian shark could be sign of giant squid attack

A rare, multispecies brawl unfolded recently in the deep ocean off the coast of Hawaii. In one corner, an oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) — a 7-foot-long (2.1 meters) predator capable of diving up to 1,000 feet (300 m) below the surface in pursuit of prey. In the other corner…...

Apr 30, 2020

Ancient 'shapeshifting vampire demon' anchovy had saber tooth and fangs

Scientists have discovered the remains of two ancient fish that sported fanged teeth on their lower jaws and a huge, single saber tooth on the top. These now-extinct fish are so weird, there's no other known fish — living or dead — that look like them. The fishes' teeth are...

Dec 31, 2019

Dying Fish Revealed Congo Is World's Deepest River

SAN FRANCISCO — A mysterious case of dying fish in the lower Congo River helped scientists discover that this body is the deepest river on the planet. It's also a place where raging rapids, powerful currents and even submerged waterfalls divide the water, much as mountain ranges can separate habitats...