NFC: Fish Camoflage

[Sajjad Lateef <sajjad at acm_org>]

	I recall Ray Wolff mentioning fish camoflage some time ago. Today,
I noticed some amazing camoflage behavior by the two mud-minnows (U.
limi). I was moving my tanks to my new apartment and was trying to catch
and bag all fish. Well, the mud's proved to be the hardest to catch.

	They generally hang out at the bottom. But, when I am scooping the
bottom with the net, they float (yes, float, not swim) to the top at an
angle where they look like twigs or plant pieces.

	When I finally net(ted?) them, I had some mulm in the net. These
fish then proceeded to bury themselves in the little amount of mulm there
was to become practically invisible.

	I am amazed. These "cigar-butts with fins" (per Dave Scheleser)
fish are awesome. I hope that they are smart enough to chase and eat guppy
fry in heavy floating plants coz that's all the live food they're going to
get for the next few weeks. I have a feeling that they'll manage :-)

	Anybody else studying/keeping these species?  Would you share your
thoughts about these fish? 

Sajjad 
ps: If you have a dark background, peaty water and weak lights, these fish
are *invisible* since they remain stationary for periods. 
-- 
Sajjad Lateef                         <http://www.eecs.uic.edu/~slateef>
sajjad at acm_org      Please Visit NFC: <http://nativefish.interspeed.net>
ICQ# 13114451       AIM id: sajjadlate         PGP public key on request

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