Tiny Fish, Big Catch
Scientists have discovered the world’s smallest fish in the threatened swampland of Indonesia. It’s called Paedocypris Progenetica, a distant member of the carp family, and when fully grown it’s the size of a large mosquito.
Skinny, translucent and very elusive, the fish lives in the swamps of the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on Malaysian Borneo. The water the fish lives in is extremely acidic with a pH value of 3. These areas are now being endangered by encroaching forestry and agriculture.
The smallest adult specimen was a female that came to 7.9 millimeters just beating out the previous smallest fish, the dwarf goby, Trimmatom Nanus, at 8 .0 millimeters.
The Paedocypris Progenetica is also the world’s smallest vertebrate.
Evolutionary pressures may have caused the fish to develop highly modified fins to survive in its environment. The head is unprotected by a skeleton. Males also have a tough pad on the front of the pelvic girdle that may be used to help them clutch onto females during mating.
Further Reading:
Natural History Museum of London Web Site
|
Forthcoming
|
Forthcoming
|
|
I wonder what these fish eat? Certainly not other fish, I’d presume.
Speaking of eating, imagine the culinary possiblities: bread them up and throw them in the Fryolator for some tasty, bite-size fish popcorn (albeit heartburn-inducing).