[kellyhound]

Right around this time last year, news broke about the discovery of an amazing little puffer fish capable of creating elaborately designed ‘crop circles’ at the bottom of the ocean as part of an elaborate mating ritual.

The behavior was first documented by a photographer named Yoji Ookata who later returned with a film crew from the Japanese nature show NHK which later aired an episode about the fish.

Even as articles bounced around the web it was still difficult to imagine how a tiny fish could create such a large design in the sand, even when staring directly at photographic evidence.

Finally, video has emerged that shows just how the little guy delicately traverses the sand in a rotating criss-cross pattern to create a sort of subaquatic spirograph.

The textured sand sculpture not only attracts mates but also serves as protection when the fish pair and lays eggs.

[Faline]

Cute little fella, loved how it grabbed he stick

[Wendell]

What. The. Fish. Is going on in this world?

[deanmine]

Lets Meet The Pufferfish Shall We...

His Pad....




The Surprising Habits of a Deadly Fish:

If there were ever a time to use the phrase, "I'm not saying it was aliens, but...it was aliens," it would be in response to this (and believe me, I loathe the phrase) -- the mysterious underwater crop circles discovered by accomplished photographer Yoji Ookata. Over the course of his 50 year career of discovering and documenting the diverse life found in Earth's oceans, nothing quite like this structure had ever been found. And not just by Oshima, but by anyone in recorded history.

The structure was found some 80 feet below sea level, located just off from the Japanese island of Anami Oshima. Not only were they nearly perfectly circular geometrically (coming in with dimensions of about six and a half feet wide), they were also quite detailed, with many ridges, grooves, and repeating patterns. The question that immediately comes to mind is a good one...what in the world could create something like this? Surely a human, not another species, right? I mean, my dogs are lucky to hit the corner of the pee pad (not that they are particularly intelligent though.).

As it turns out, the structures in question were not created by humans OR alien beings, but can be attributed to one, single fish.

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They’ve been called the crop circles of the ocean floor—seven-foot diameter patterned circles that were first spotted in 1995 off the coast of southern Japan. But their origin was an enigma, and local divers termed them “mystery circles.”

The mystery persisted until 2011 when the culprit, a male pufferfish just five inches long, was finally caught in the act. And recently scientists studied the process of how the species creates these elaborate designs in order to woo females.

Finned Diggers

The research team observed a total of 10 construction events carried out by somewhere between 4 and 8 males. (Pufferfish don’t have very memorable faces, apparently.) Males spent seven to nine days building their respective circles by repeatedly swimming in and out of the circle, using their fins to dig valleys in the sandy bottom.
Aesthetics were clearly important. The spirograph pattern was meticulously created and males were observed decorating the peaks with shell and coral fragments. But the design had a practical purpose as well: the male’s swimming pattens stirred up fine sand particles and pushed them toward the middle of the circle, which served as the actual nest.

This was the part of the circle where he entertained lady callers. When a female pufferfish approached the circle, the male stirred up the sand in the middle and darted back and forth through it. If she judged him a suitable mate, she would lay her eggs in the sandy central zone, the researchers reported last month in Scientific Reports.

Build and Rebuild

Scientists say it’s likely that the quality of the circle helps determine a female’s mate choice, though they have yet to demonstrate how. But once mating is completed, the male ceases his upkeep of the circle, and after the eggs hatch, he abandons the nest altogether.

But after all that effort, you may ask, why not just reuse his earlier circle? The authors speculate that the male’s forceful wooing depletes the area of its fine sand particles, which are necessary for the next round of egg-rearing. And then it’s back to the drawing board for these amorous artists.

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The Surprising Habits of a Deadly Fish:



If there were ever a time to use the phrase, “I’m not saying it was aliens, but…it was aliens,” it would be in response to this (and believe me, I loathe the phrase) — the mysterious underwater crop circles discovered by accomplished photographer Yoji Ookata. Over the course of his 50 year career of discovering and documenting the diverse life found in Earth’s oceans, nothing quite like this structure had ever been found. And not just by Oshima, but by anyone in recorded history.



The structure was found some 80 feet below sea level, located just off from the Japanese island of Anami Oshima. Not only were they nearly perfectly circular geometrically (coming in with dimensions of about six and a half feet wide), they were also quite detailed, with many ridges, grooves, and repeating patterns. The question that immediately comes to mind is a good one…what in the world could create something like this? Surely a human, not another species, right? I mean, my dogs are lucky to hit the corner of the pee pad (not that they are particularly intelligent though.).



As it turns out, the structures in question were not created by humans OR alien beings, but can be attributed to one, single male pufferfish. Proving that fish have more in common with humanity than most of us realize. The elaborate structures are most likely created for one reason (and one reason only): to find a mate.

The pufferfish that create these amazing structures do so using nothing but a single flapping fin, which they use to move the sand on the ocean floor around to create the patterns seen here. After they are finished, they actually decorate their work of art (using portions of broken seashells, which they place along the inner most ridges of the structure). This is thought to make the female pufferfish swoon, enticing them to mate with the male and lay eggs in the center of the circle. It could be that the ridges are actually created to protect the eggs from getting caught up in an underwater current that could carry them off, putting them directly in the path of predators.

Lastly, studies have indicated that the more elaborate the structure, the more likely it is to attract not one, but several females.
As a side note, these fish are considered a delicacy in Japan, despite the high concentration of a powerful neutrotoxin found in their skin, gonads, ovaries, and liver (called tetrodotoxin) which is actually about 1,200 more deadly than cyanide. One single fish contains enough of this poison to kill 30 people. Yet…many people pay good money for the privilege of being poisoned (and dying a slow, painful death).

[deanmine]

forgot vid

[deanmine]

I Married A Puffer Fish Once, Of Course I Had No Way Of Knowing At That Time, She Didnt Puff Up Tell After A Few Years..... I Used To Call Her "SCOOTER" Cuz I Was Always Saying,"SCOOT THE FUCK OVER".... true story!