The Venomous Saltwater Catfish

Came across this fella dead at the tide pools yesterday:

It was about 26 inches long. It looked like a catfish: you can clearly see the barbels around the mouth. I never knew there were saltwater catfish, but hey, what do I know?

Much, much weirder: The head looked like a catfish, but it had one long fin that went from its back, around its pointy tail, to its belly—like an eel. That's weird. Was it an eel? Was it a catfish? Was I hallucinating?

Here's a good shot of the tail. (Click on pic to enlarge.) The pink spots are where the fish had been chewed on by something.

Christine and I did some googling when we got home. After that we did some research. (Ba dum.) We found the Cobbler fish, or Eel-tail catfish:

Cnidoglanis macrocephalus

The cobbler is yellow to dark brown with pale mottling over the back and sides, usually progressively darker towards the tail. It has a large flattened head and a long eel-like body that tapers to a pointed tail, with continuous dorsal, caudal and anal fins, attaining a maximum length of up to 91 centimetres. The broad mouth is surrounded by four pairs of barbells (feeler-like tentacles), with a fifth pair of barbells present above the snout...

You can actually see the fifth set of barbels, up there on top of is head in the first pic.

More:

...and venomous serrated spines at the front of the pectoral and dorsal fins, which can inflict a painful wound.

I had picked that fish up before I read that. Note to self: Don't pick things up. Just don't.

A little more about those spines, and catfish in general:

All catfish, except members of Malapteruridae (electric catfish), possess a strong, hollow, bonified leading spine-like ray on their dorsal and pectoral fins. As a defense, these spines may be locked into place so that they stick outwards, which can inflict severe wounds. In several species catfish can use these fin rays to deliver a stinging protein if the fish is irritated. This venom is produced by glandular cells in the epidermal tissue covering the spines. In members of the family Plotosidae, and of the genus Heteropneustes, this protein is so strong it may hospitalize humans, those unfortunate enough to receive a sting; in Plotosus lineatus, the stings may result in death.

The Cobbler fish is, of course, from the family Plotosidae.

We can even get a look at those bony spines on our fish:

You see that white spike out its back that looks like someone stuck a plastic toothpick in him or something? That's the dorsal fin's venom delivery spine. On this shot, of the fish's underbellly, you can see one of the pectoral spikes, and you can even see the serrated edge:

Here's a closeup of the spike:

A few more picks. Full fish:

Belly, with what might be eggs poking out:

And that strange mouth. (That's top-side-up.):

Australia's Deadly Jack Jumper Ants

I was sitting on a trail in a very thick wild area north of Sydney last week when I noticed large, kind of iridescent, blue-green ants around me. A closer look revealed some impressive yellow mandibles (jaws, or pincers):

Here's a short video of one washing its pincers:




Christine did a bit of researching, and while they appear to come in a variety of colors, the huge yellow mandibles point toward these being Jack Jumper ants, also known as a Hopper or Skipper ants, a type of bull ant from the primitive genus Myrmecia, which is found only in Australia (well, one of the ninety or so species is found in New Caledonia):

The Jack Jumper Ant is a large species of Bulldog Ant. They have a jumping motion when disturbed which gives them their common name. The workers are black with yellow mandibles, antennae, and lower parts of the legs. The head is slightly broader than it is long and mandibles are slightly shorter than the head. The mandibles have four large sharp teeth with a smaller tooth in between each large one. The queen is similar in colour to the workers but is larger and more robust.

That pretty much describes the guy in the photo above, although the "black" in this case is more bluish, and the legs aren't quite as yellow as the photos I'm seeing, but nature is not that consistent.

I looked back at the several videos I took of them, and I even saw one jumping. (It happens very quick in this short video.)



The special thing about these ants is their sting. They don't bite, they sting, like wasps (which ants and bees are related to). And it's a very powerful sting:

A program to desensitise people to the potentially fatal jack jumper ant in Tasmania has been declared a success.

At less than a centimetre long with bright orange pincers, the jack jumper ant may be small but its sting can be deadly.

Allergic reactions can be more severe than those to bee stings, ranging from a rash and swelling, to unconsciousness and even death.

Of course. It's Australia. More:

In areas where Jack Jumper ants are common, population surveys have shown that between 2 and 3 per cent of people have had generalised allergic reactions, and in around half of these people the reactions can be life threatening. Deaths from Jack Jumper ant stings and anaphylaxis have occurred in Australia, with several recorded cases in recent years. Since allergy as a cause of death can be difficult to detect at post mortem, it is conceivable that deaths due to sting allergy are under reported.

An extra fact:

The jack jumper ant genome is contained on a single pair of chromosomes (males have just one chromosome as they are haploid), the lowest number known (or even possible) for any animal.

Lots more photos at Ants Down Under.

My First Aussie Fish Catch

I went fishing last night, at dusk, and then into the dark, in a light rain. You just don't know how good it is to stand in the surf up to your ankles or nipples for a few hours, especially while doing something like fishing, which has its own kinds of goodness.

Anyway, I caught my first fish. Even in the dark I could tell it was a flathead, which is supposedly a great eating fish. Mine was unfortunately a small one, about 8 inches (they need to be 26 centimeters, which is like 8 feet I think). Unfortunately again the combination of it being dark and the fact that the little bugger nearly swallowed the hook made it impossible to get the hook free without messing the fish up pretty bad. I was trying and trying and the spines on the fish's gills kept stabbing me in the hands and I'm cussing up a storm in the rain trying to get the goddamn hook out. Blech. Made me feel like shit. I finally got it and put the guy back in the ocean. He swam off.

I hope the little fella lived and grows to a really good size and gets caught on my hook one day so I can eat him.

How to Preserve Snowflakes

I may as well rip off my own old blog for whatever good bits it has. This is definitely one.

Ever wanted to catch a snowflake and keep it forever? You can. This is a photograph of a snowflake that fell in January 1979, but it isn’t a 27-year-old photo. It is a recent shot of a snowflake that’s been sitting in chemist Tryggvi Emilsson’s desk for 27 years, locked in a drop of that miracle of modern chemistry we call superglue.

The photo:

Cockatoos at the Beach

Foggy morning on the beach, cockatooos seemed to want a rest:

And again:

Australia Day, and Kangaroo Snags

January 26, Australia Day, marks that glorious day in 1788 when the glorious "First Fleet" sailed into glorious Sydney Cove with a glorious load of stinky, wretched, and terrified prisoners. So Australia was born.

There will be festivities. There will be barbecues. There will be champagne. There will fireworks. There will be thong-throwing contests. (Not at all what it sounds like.)

I started off the festivities myself last night, with a couple kanga bangas (click on pic to enlarge):

They're sausages (snags) made with kangaroo meat. Australia: the only country where they eat their national symbol.

Happy Australia Day everybody!

Royalties

I've been getting a bunch of mechanical royalty payments from Rhapsody lately. The latest: $0.00168121. Look out whale-penis-leather seats!