Welcome to Atheist Discussion, a new community created by former members of The Thinking Atheist forum.

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Black fish matter
#1

Black fish matter
A team of marine biologists have discovered 16 new species of terrifying deep-sea fish that reflect almost no light at all.

"To qualify as ultra-black, a substance has to reflect less than 0.5 percent of the light that hits it. Some birds of paradise manage this, beaming back as little as 0.05 percent, as do certain types of butterflies (0.06 percent) and spiders (0.35 percent). A feat of engineering allowed humans to best them all with synthetic materials, some of which reflect only 0.045 percent of incoming light. (“Black” paper, on the other hand, returns a whopping 10 percent of the light it meets.)

Now, it seems fish may come close to trouncing them all.

One species profiled in the paper, a bioluminescent anglerfish in the genus Oneirodes, reflects as little as 0.044 to 0.051 percent of the deep-sea light it encounters. The other 99.95 percent, Mr. Davis and his colleagues found, gets lost in a labyrinth of light-swallowing pigments until it effectively disappears.


Deep sea oceans are actually much brighter than you might think. There may be little or no natural light penetrating hundreds of meters of ocean water, but bioluminescent creatures and bacteria produce plenty of light all by themselves.

At the same time, light produced by these organisms tends to draw the attention of prey, suggesting the ultra-black fish may be camouflaging themselves to stop them from being detected as they stalk their prey — or hide from other predators.

So how do these fish get so dark? Special layers of melanosomes, tiny cellular structures stuffed with melanin — the same natural pigment that colors human skin — scatter incoming photons and stop them from finding their way back out.

One species, the threadfin dragonfish, was even found to only be ultra-black when its young — likely a defense mechanism to protect it when it needs to hide from predators.

Other species had melanosomes lining their guts to make sure any bioluminescent fish they ate won’t give away their position. “You don’t want to be swimming around with a glowing belly, right?” Osborne told Wired. “That’s just asking for trouble.”"

[Image: 16TB-ULTRABLACKFISH2-jumbo.jpg]

[Image: merlin_174554622_651aad2d-3cb7-4c8e-8697...-jumbo.jpg]
“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” 
The following 9 users Like Vera's post:
  • jerry mcmasters, Aroura, Thumpalumpacus, brewerb, GenesisNemesis, brunumb, SYZ, Gwaithmir, Paleophyte
Reply
#2

Black fish matter
Do the cop fish harass them?
[Image: M-Spr20-Weapons-FEATURED-1-1200x350-c-default.jpg]
Reply
#3

Black fish matter
The angler fish have the solution for that:


[Image: anglerfish.jpg]
[Image: color%5D%5Bcolor=#333333%5D%5Bsize=small%5D%5Bfont=T...ans-Serif%5D]
Reply
#4

Black fish matter
If I see one in my pool I will shit a brick.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
Reply
#5

Black fish matter
On hiatus.
The following 2 users Like Thumpalumpacus's post:
  • Vera, Dom
Reply
#6

Black fish matter
(07-19-2020, 10:45 PM)Minimalist Wrote: If I see one in my pool I will shit a brick.

You'll be in the wrong pool, without your floaty.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental. 
Reply
#7

Black fish matter
(07-19-2020, 09:31 PM)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: Do the cop fish harass them?

Actually, I should have named it Black Fish Scatter... Photons. Angel



(07-19-2020, 10:29 PM)Dom Wrote: The angler fish have the solution for that:


[Image: anglerfish.jpg]

No they don't. Is the whole point of being an ultra - light is powerless Big Grin

(07-19-2020, 11:28 PM)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

Love this song!
“We drift down time, clutching at straws. But what good's a brick to a drowning man?” 
The following 2 users Like Vera's post:
  • Dom, Thumpalumpacus
Reply
#8

Black fish matter
(07-19-2020, 11:35 PM)Vera Wrote: Love this song!

I do too, though I'm not a big fan of the band. It seemed appropriate.

Thanks for the cool article, much appreciated.
On hiatus.
Reply
#9

Black fish matter
(07-19-2020, 09:31 PM)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: Do the cop fish harass them?

Well, they kneel on them until they're green about the gills.
Test
Reply
#10

Black fish matter
Yummy.

[Image: Blackened-fish-4.jpg]
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental. 
The following 2 users Like brewerb's post:
  • Deesse23, Dānu
Reply




Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)