Thursday, April 13, 2006

 

The fish that hunts on land

`Zoologists have found a remarkable fish that can wriggle from Africa’s tropical swamps to snaffle a snack on land.

The eel catfish, Channallabes apus, catches unsuspecting victims by arching upwards and descending upon prey, trapping an insect against the ground before sucking it up. It performs this trick thanks to a bendy neck supported by specialized vertebrae, which allows it to hover over prey without needing fins or arms to hold up its head.

The same trick may have been used by the very first vertebrates to venture onto land, the researchers speculate.’




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