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.     These Killifish are members of a species related to the Kryptolebias marmoratus, that climb trees.   Living Corals Like those shown here have been discovered to reproduce when triggered by moonlight.   Trout like the one shown to the left, that are raised in hatcheries, have been discovered to have a "Stunning" loss of reproduction.   Hydras like the one shown to the left, help scientists put a date on the evolution of light sensitivity in animals.   Frogs with transparent skin now provide scientists with  a way to observe internal organs, blood vessels and eggs without performing dissections.     In Belmopan, Belize, Killiefish Found that Lives in Trees. Scientists have found one of the oddest fish known to mankind in abundance in Belize. The killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus) have been found living in mangrove trees according to research published in The American Naturalist and reported in the New Scientist magazine. The small colorful fish (about two-inches long) found in mangrove swamps can survive several months living inside pathways carved by insects in rotting logs. In surveys in Belize scientists found "hundreds of killifish lined up end to end, like peas in a pod," writes Elie Dolgin in New Scientist Magazine. The fish survive by "[remodeling] their gills to retain water and nutrients, and [adding] new proteins to their skin to excrete nitrogen waste." These changes are reversed as soon as they return to the water. Click here to read more. Click here to see an actual male K. marmoratus, here to see a female, and here to see another picture. This species, "is the only known naturally occurring, self-fertilizing vertebrate." Click here to learn more. Distribution: North, Central and South America: eastern coasts of Florida (Indian River to Key West) in USA and Bahamas to Cuba, Jamaica, Cayman Island, Brazil, French Guiana, the Netherlands Antilles, Venezuela, Belize, Mexico, Puerto Rico. Throughout Caribbean.   From University of Queensland, Australia Blue Moon Triggers Corals to Spawn. Researchers led by Oren Levy of the Center for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia, studied corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. They report in today's issue of the journal Science that while corals don't have eyes, they can sense changes in light — especially the blue light from a moon — and respond to them. The corals contain ancient proteins called cryptochromes, which react to light. Cryptochromes have also been found in mammals and insects, where they affect the circadian clock that regulates the daily rhythms of life. This finding indicates that the basic means used by mammals today to regulate daily patterns can be traced to the beginnings of multi-cellular animals, the researchers said. And, they added, it supports the idea that these proteins evolved under the blue light of the ancient seas. The research was funded by the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship and the ARC Center for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies. Click here to read more.   In the Waters Surrounding Brittain First Signs of a Comeback for Cod Fish Stocks of cod around Britain are showing the first signs of reversing a decline that has threatened to wipe out the fish as a viable species. For the first time in eight years scientists calculating fish stocks have advised the Government that it is safe to catch cod in the North Sea, albeit in small quantities. The advice was issued by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (Ices), the body that advises fisheries ministers on fish stocks. It found that the number of young fish had increased substantially in comparison with previous years and there were indications that survival rates for mature fish had improved slightly. Click here to read more.   From Oregon State University Trout Hatcheries Cause "Stunning" Loss of Reproduction Captive-bred steelhead trout used to boost declining fish populations are less fit than wild-bred trout, raising concerns over conservation programs for endangered species, says a new study. Research published in Friday's edition of the journal Science shows that hatchery-raised steelhead trout dramatically and unexpectedly lose their ability to reproduce in the wild. Oregon State University researchers found the reproductive success of trout, a species critical to many healthy aquatic ecosystems, drops by close to 40 per cent for every generation they spend in a hatchery. "For fish to so quickly lose their ability to reproduce is stunning, it's just remarkable," Oregon State University zoologist Michael Blouin said in a release. Click here to read more.   University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, The Dawn of Animal Vision Discovered By peering deep into evolutionary history, scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered the origins of photosensitivity in animals. The scientists studied the aquatic animal Hydra, a member of Cnidaria, which are animals that have existed for hundreds of millions of years. The authors are the first scientists to look at light-receptive genes in cnidarians, an ancient class of animals that includes corals, jellyfish, and sea anemones. "Not only are we the first to analyze these vision genes (opsins) in these early animals, but because we don't find them in earlier evolving animals like sponges, we can put a date on the evolution of light sensitivity in animals," said David C. Plachetzki, first author and a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara. The research was conducted with a National Science Foundation dissertation improvement grant. "We now have a time frame for the evolution of animal light sensitivity. We know its precursors existed roughly 600 million years ago," said Plachetzki. Click here to read more.   From Hiroshima University, Japan, No Need for Dissection as See-Through Frogs Jump In !! Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing see-through frogs, letting them observe organs, blood vessels and eggs under the skin without performing dissections. "You can see through the skin how organs grow, how cancer starts and develops," said the lead researcher Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of state-run Hiroshima University. "You can watch organs of the same frog over its entire life as you don't have to dissect it. The researcher can also observe how toxins affect bones, livers and other organs at lower costs," he told AFP. Click here to read more.   In Wisconsin DNR wants to Rid Lake Michigan of Fish-Eating Birds. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says it is hoping to cut by half the number of fish-eating birds in Lake Michigan and on the Green Bay shorelines. Five islands in question now have more than 12,000 nesting pairs of double-crested cormorants, which eat as much as a pound of fish a day. People who fish have been upset about the big black birds, and the DNR said that it also is worried that the formerly endangered animals will grow in population and expand their range. Click here to read more. Special thanks to Pet Fish Talk's Special Reporter, Joshua from Okemos, Michigan.   A Big Sincere Thank-you for calling during the show to Jourdan and his sister, Kathy, from Connecticut, and Ellen from Puget Sound, Washington, 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. Click here to buy an MP3-enabled CD-Player, or click here to buy an MP3-Player, or click here to buy an Apple iPod, which can all play Pet Fish Talk Shows.     There are lots of Pet Fish Talk Shows. 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