Does Current Shellfish Anti-predator Gear Curb ‘Crunching’ Rays?

It’s not just humans who enjoy eating shellfish, so do marine rays. They like to “crunch” on clams, which can sometimes take a big bite out of clammers’ profits. Using aerial and underwater videos, researchers assessed the ability of the whitespotted eagle ray to interact with clams housed within a variety anti-predator materials. Whitespotted eagle rays have strong jaws, plate-like teeth and nimble pectoral fins, which make them formidable and highly maneuverable predators of clams.

How Did 500 Species of a Fish Form in a Lake? Dramatically Different Body Clocks

Despite the dramatic difference between day and nightlife, how fish exploit different times of day has not been studied systematically. Scientists explored alterations in the circadian timing of activity and the duration of rest-wake cycles in Lake Malawi’s cichlids and identified the first single nocturnal species. Timing and duration of rest and activity varies dramatically, and continuously, between populations of Lake Malawi cichlids, providing a system for exploring the molecular and neural basis underlying variation in nocturnal activity.