# The fish that lives in trees. Newslink **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630 "2007-10-22T22:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/1 "2007-10-22T22:42:37Z")
OK, a fish that lives in trees **for months at a time**?! :eek: True, though. [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in\_article\_id=488193&in\_page\_id=1770](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=488193&in_page_id=1770) > [@](#): > > The fish that can survive for months in a tree > By DAVID DERBYSHIRE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:20pm on 17th October 2007 > > It’s one of the golden rules of the natural world – birds live in trees, fish live in water. > > The trouble is, no one bothered to tell the mangrove killifish. > > Scientists have discovered that it spends several months of every year out of the water and living inside trees. Also, a unique sex life. > [@](#): > > The discovery, along with its ability to breed without a mate, must make the mangrove killifish, Rivulus marmoratus Poey, one of the oddest fish known to man. > [@](#): > > The fish had flopped their way to their new homes when their pools of water around the roots of mangroves dried up. Inside the logs, they were lined up end to end along tracks carved out by insects. > > … > Another study, published earlier this year, revealed how they alter their bodies and metabolism to cope with life out of water. > > Their gills are altered to retain water and nutrients, while they excrete nitrogen waste through their skin. > > These changes are reversed as soon as they return to the water. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/2 "2007-10-22T23:08:31Z")
I was under the impression that there were several species of lizards that reproduce via parthenogenesis (asexually). I think [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis) agrees. I wonder why the author of the article doesn’t think that counts. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/3 "2007-10-22T23:38:45Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] I was under the impression that there were several species of lizards that reproduce via parthenogenesis (asexually). I think [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis) agrees. I wonder why the author of the article doesn’t think that counts. [/QUOTE] Um…'cause they’re not fish, maybe? His claim is that they’re one of the oddest “fish” known to man, not the oddest creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/4 "2007-10-22T23:51:05Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Um…'cause they’re not fish, maybe? His claim is that they’re one of the oddest “fish” known to man, not the oddest creatures. [/QUOTE] Perhaps you didn’t read the article. Wiki also says that some sharks have been found to reproduce asexually. I believe sharks are both vertebrates and fish. [QUOTE=the article] Previously their biggest claim to fame was that they are the only known vertebrate – animal with a backbone – to reproduce without the need for a mate. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/5 "2007-10-22T23:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Perhaps you didn’t read the article. Wiki also says that some sharks have been found to reproduce asexually. I believe sharks are both vertebrates and fish. [/QUOTE] I skimmed it, actually. But that doesn’t address the lizards you brought up. Frankly, “one of the few [blankety blank]” is pretty meaningless all by itself, isn’t it? Just bad reporting and writing, but fascinating fishies! ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/6 "2007-10-23T00:05:32Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Wiki also says that some sharks have been found to reproduce asexually. I believe sharks are both vertebrates and fish. [/QUOTE] They don’t live in trees though. Except for the tree shark. So the killifish still comes out ahead in the oddness department. The author of the article is British. It’s safe to assume that he knows what he’s talking about in this regard. If there’s one thing the British do best, it’s oddness and eccentricity. I do, however, have to question the choice of opening line: > [@](#): > > It’s one of the golden rules of the natural world – birds live in trees, fish live in water. > > The trouble is, no one bothered to tell the mangrove killifish. Yes, well it seems that penguins were also left out of the loop there, weren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/7 "2007-10-23T00:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] I was under the impression that there were several species of lizards that reproduce via parthenogenesis (asexually). I think [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis) agrees. I wonder why the author of the article doesn’t think that counts. [/QUOTE] Parthenogenesis and producing sperm and ova in the same individual is not the same thing, which is what the writer is referring to. The wording is a bit sloppy and makes me think that someone attempted to explain the difference to the reporter, who didn’t have enough of a background in biology to grasp the distinction. Parthenogenesis is the development of an embryo without fertilization. The killifish practice _self_-fertilization. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fish-that-lives-in-trees-newslink/423630/8 "2007-10-23T06:09:02Z")
Bah! Still not as impressive as the endangered [Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus](http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/)!