Newborn fishes are hard to study because they are tiny, semitransparent and get mashed when netted by research vessels. Now, a partnership between scientists and divers is letting researchers in on the secret lives of some fish larvae. Underwater photos taken near Hawaii at night-when larvae rise toward the ocean surface-reveal colors, body structures and behaviors that can't be seen in preserved specimens. With lights in hand, divers snapped up-close photos of 26 larval fishes (three shown), then gingerly captured and shipped them and 50 others to scientists to be studied alongside their mug shots. DNA analyses let ichthyologists match the photos to known species, researchers report in the March issue of Ichthyology & Herpetology.
展开▼
