The smallest fish in the world has been found.

[Reciprocity]

The record-busting newcomer, Paedocypris progenetica, is skinny and transparent, and a distant cousin of the carp, the researchers say

Females grow no bigger than 7.9 millimeters (0.31 inches) which makes her the world's smallest vertebrate as well, whereas the male of the species measures 10.3mm at its maximum length.
The elusive fish lives in highly acid peat swamps on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and in the Malaysian part of Borneo that are threatened by forestry and agriculture.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1555027.htm

[Crankie Avalon]

1. hmmmmmm...

http://www.dubyaspeak.com/audio/player.phtml?clip_name=coexist

[Reciprocity]

4. hmmmmmm not sure what this has to do with fish?

[DS1]

2. Fear not, the Japanese will find a way to stuff it with seawood and

eat it while it's still alive.

[Richard Steele]

10. Seawood? nm

[enigami]

3. Great! .........Another damn carp n/t

[HEyHEY]

5. Break out the tar tar sauce!

[petronius]

6. That person has an odd looking finger...

Why is it so splotchy?

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Mercury poisoning (n.t)

[Floogeldy]

9. Ha ha!

:)

[HEyHEY]

8. The fish carries leprosy

[Maddy McCall]

11. That's about the size of some of the crawfish I had on Tuesday.

There were tiny baby crawfish in the bag.

That's a cool little fish.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. "The elusive fish lives in highly acid peat swamps..."

The guy holding the fish should have read about them BEFORE he stuck his finger in that muck...

[Maddy McCall]

14. Yeah, his finger looks a little irritated, red, doesn't it?

Ouch! What people do for science. :D

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. One of my favorite books

is called "Stirring the Mud" by Barbara Hurd. She writes about her experiences swamps, and it really is wonderfully written, informative prose.

[Maddy McCall]

18. I'll have to check that out. Have you ever read...

Mark Plotkin's "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice?"

He spoke at my university--but I never took time out to read his book. Now as I think about it, I need to read it, and I'm going to get the call numbers for it right now. Thanks for reminding me. And I'll see if they have the Hurd book, too.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. I haven't...

but I'll check it out. Thanks!

[Maddy McCall]

20. He's an ethnobotanist who worked in the Amazon.

He told us that he had sent back a small plub of bark of a rare tree (they usually send back tiny samples, because they send back so many samples) to the lab in the US, and when tested against HIV, it destroyed the virus.

So he was sent back to find the same tree again, for its bark, and it was gone due to logging in the Amazon. He found other trees LIKE that tree, but every tree, like every human, has unique DNA. Something in the DNA of that one tree produced something that was toxic to HIV.

Ethnobotanists look at cures that are used by (and I hate this word) "primitive" peoples in other regions. Plotkin's specialty is the Amazon. He was the most enchanting speaker we ever had at university forum. I don't know why I never took the time to read his book. All that I've heard about it is great--that it's hard to put down. Come to think of it, I think I'll stop by the book store in the mall tonight and see if they have it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

21. Oh my god!

It's appalling to think of the medical breakthroughs that are literally being chopped down. I have a hard time seeing trees cut, too, Maybe it's irrational, but when I see it...particularly to clear a lot for some damn strip mall or crappy subdivision...I feel an ache in my heart. :cry:

[Maddy McCall]

23. Yes, same here.

I lost over 200 trees on my 40 acres during Katrina. It hurts to walk outside and look at them lying on their sides.

Here are some photos taken near my cabin in the couple of days after katrina. Where you can see the sky through the canopy now, before you couldn't--you could see nothing but green. :cry:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. Oh Maddy!

That must have been devastating! :hug:
What a gorgeous piece of property. I love keeping things natural!

[AngryAmish]

13. What is the record?

And exactly what bait would one use?

[Maddy McCall]

15. Don't know the record...

and I'd guess you'd have to seine with fishnet hose to catch that little guy.

[qnr]

16. Naturally, one has to wonder if it was even aware that it was lost...

OK, I'll shut up now

[InternalDialogue]

22. Whew!

I was wondering where I put that! Gotta get a little fish cozy or something. Can't let him get away again!

[swag]

25. It's time for America to seal its urethras.