That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  In Part 1 of this article I wrote about some of my experiences with Red-Bellied Piranhas in the wild, and examined some of the myths and realities surrounding their fearsome reputations. 

Bird-Eating Piranhas

Piranhas living near wading bird rookeries (colonial nesting areas) are often more aggressive than those dwelling in other habitats.  It seems that young birds frequently fall from their nests to the water below (the nests are usually located in trees growing in water), and Piranhas (and Spectacled Caiman) have learned to cash in.  Red-Bellied Piranhas living near rookeries are said to be particularly aggressive and will hit just anything that lands on the water’s surface.  Read More »

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  With the movie Piranha 3D in theaters, I though now might be a good time to write a bit about how wild Red-Bellied Piranhas (Pycocentrus nattereri) actually behave.  Unfortunately, no matter how outlandish the movie may be, there are people who will retain what they see and regard it as fact.  I still recall that, for months after the movie Anaconda premiered, I was deluged with calls from viewers spouting the strangest “facts” (I was working at the Bronx Zoo at the time…management had been approached by the movie’s production company, but had declined to become involved).  Read More »

You walk into a trendy restaurant. You browse the daily specials…the featured fish of the day?  Lionfish.  This is one creative way to fight the exploding population of these fish invading Caribbean waters and rapidly expanding north along the Eastern coast. Read More »

Given the sad comedy of errors that have occurred on the BP Deep Water Horizon drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico, a lot of people will have their collective fingers crossed this week, as the project for the permanent cap to the damaged well gets under way.  I don’t think that there is need to rehash all of the events leading up to this point, everyone directly affected by this disaster is fully aware of what has happened.  The New York times a great website detailing the repair efforts if you are interested. Read More »

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  If you stare long enough at a Lungfish or Mudskipper (as I have, often causing my co-workers to wonder…), it’s easy to picture a similar creature leaving an ancient sea and setting forth to explore the land in the distant past.  Indeed, evolutionary biologists tell us that a fish very much like today’s Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus fosteri) did pull off such a feat some 360 million years ago, thereby setting the stage for the rise of the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.  Read More »