Segment One Fish in the News. Each week the Bailey Brothers start the Pet Fish Talk Show with some fun and interesting stories about fish in the news.     Rear Fins of a Growing Paddlefish (circled) show the same pattern of gene activity (blue) as that of a growing four-limbed animal. The fin's bones [inset] also correspond to those of an animal's hind leg. Image: Marcus Davis, University of Chicago.   A Male King Pool Pupfish, the closest relative to the Devil's Hole pupfish, protects his territory at Point of Rocks on April 14, 2007. Photo by Kat Wade, SF Chronicle.     How Fins Became Fingers. Fins Governed by same Genetics Code as Human Limbs. A living fossil fish is giving researchers a peek into the genetic machinery that would eventually lead to our hands and feet. The fins of the modern paddlefish Polyodon spathula, which evolved perhaps 200 million years ago, share a distinctive pattern of gene activity with the limbs of all four-limbed animals, according to a new report. The finding tells researchers that limbs were a long time in the making, says evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago and The Field Museum in Chicago. "This is showing that complex structures have a history and they're assembled over time—they don't happen in one fell swoop," he says. Click here to read more.   Mojave Desert, California, Only 42 Desert Pupfish Survive. The last place anyone would expect to find fish is Devil's Hole, a chasm in the middle of the Mojave Desert where a 100-degree day is mild and the only thing bigger than the rocky expanse of desert is the sky above it. But nature is nothing if not amazing -- as good an explanation as any of how the Devil's Hole pupfish has survived in the bottomless geothermal pool that gave the fish its name. It is tiny, just an inch long, yet few species loom so large in the history of American environmentalism. The Devil's Hole pupfish is one of the rarest animals in the world. The seemingly endless effort to save it laid the foundation for the Endangered Species Act and shaped Western water policy a generation ago with a landmark Supreme Court ruling. But after 20,000 years in the desert, the fish teeters on the edge of extinction. No more than 42 remain in Devil's Hole. Click here to read more.   In Kangal, Turkey, Trapped Fish Adapt to a Life of Nibbling on Humans. Tucked between brown hills in central Turkey is a natural hot spring where, for a fee, you can become fish food. Dip in a hand or foot, and within seconds small fish will swarm, bump and nibble it. Stand above the pools, and the fish will gather below, waiting. The scaly swimmers--the "Doctor Fish of Kangal"--supposedly have curative powers. But in this unusual case of adaptive ecology, the human visitors may be helping the fish more than themselves. Click here to read more.   In Holden, Massachusetts, A Fish-Friendly Hydroelectric Turbine gets New Life. Nearly two years ago Alden Research Laboratory in Holden, Mass., hauled the scale model of a promising hydropower turbine out of its massive test flume and set it in a dim corner of the company's hydraulics laboratory building. As an innovation developed in the 1990s, the device proved quite promising in reducing one of hydropower's drawbacks: the turbines kill creatures that pass through them. The novel design enabled at least 98 percent of fish to survive. But orphaned by federal budget cuts, it has sat gathering dust. Now a new push has begun to retool the turbine for potential commercial use. Click here to read more.   In Singapore The Underwater World Aquarium puts Chips in Fish. Singapore's aquarium has tagged some of its fishes using microchips to help visitors identify the different species on display. Visitors to the Underwater World aquarium can see the name, species and other information displayed on a touch screen whenever any of the 20 tagged fishes swim past a sensor, said Peter Chew, sales and marketing manager at Underwater World. "Gone are the days when visitors are happy looking at animals and matching them with the information on the sign boards," Chew said. Click here to read more.   In Japan The Imperial Couple leave for Europe. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko left on Monday for a 10-day tour of five European countries. "I hope that our visits will contribute to the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and the countries we visit," the Emperor said before boarding a government chartered flight. Emperor Akihito is known as a taxonomist of fish. He has discovered seven new types of gobies and published 28 theses on the bulletins of the Ichthyological Society of Japan. Click here to read more.   In Las Barrancas, Mexico, Officials consider Protecting more Shark Species. Year after year, beach season brings accounts of harrowing shark attacks as people around the world plunge into the surf to escape summer's heat. But the reality is that these fearsome predators kill an average of four people worldwide every year, while humans kill anywhere from 26 million to 73 million sharks annually, according to recent calculations by an international team of scientists. With the latter toll mounting, there has been a growing realization that something must be done to prevent sharks from disappearing from the planet. Click here to read more.   Segment Two   Segment Three   Segment Four   A Big Sincere Thank-you for calling during the show to John from Birmingham, Alabama, Jay from Evansville, Indiana, Evan from Colorado, Andrew from Calgary, Canada, and John from Kentucky. The Bailey Brothers encourage YOU to call Pet Fish Talk during the show and talk about your pet fish.     Download of this Entire Show Here's how: Right-Click here, then click on "Save Target (or Link) As ...".  Navigate to the folder you prefer, and click on the button labeled "Save". Later you can copy the MP3-file to your iPod or other MP3-player. You can also burn files to CDs, then play them in a CD-player.  Click here to download the PodCast for this show. 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