Fish

Modern scientific techniques are rapidly improving our understanding of how plastic pollution can impact marine organisms, and a new study has demonstrated how they can also be used to understand the plight of creatures past.

As is the case with other types of livestock farming, antibiotics are widely used in aquaculture to prevent disease. There may soon be a healthier and more eco-friendly alternative though, in the form of seaweed added to existing fish food.

When spawning fish travel through the canals of Utrecht, they're often blocked by the city's closed Weerdsluis lock. Regular citizens are now helping the fish to get through, though, using an online "fish doorbell."

Like most other commonly used types of plastic, polyurethane is typically made from non-renewable crude oil, and it takes centuries to break down when discarded. Now, however, scientists have created a biodegradable polyurethane-like polymer using fish waste.

A study investigating the relationship between genetics, diet and heart health is claiming the cardiovascular benefits often linked to taking fish oil supplements may be only apparent in those individuals of a certain genotype.

Fish have a sensory system known as the lateral line, which allows them to detect movements and pressure gradients in the water. Scientists have now given a robotic fish its own version of that system, letting it determine the best swimming speed.

The whale shark and the manta ray are perhaps two of the ocean's most fascinating large fishes. Well, scientists have now announced the discovery of a prehistoric ancestor of both, that looked like a cross between the two.

For the past 150 years or so, scientists have theorized that the life cycle of the present-day lamprey mirrors the evolution of all fish – and thus of all vertebrates. Newly analyzed fossils, however, indicate that such is not the case.

It's important for fish farmers to keep track of the number of fish in their pens, but doing so involves going in and actually netting out some of the fish. According to new research, echo-sounding tech could soon serve as an easier alternative.

Some animals sustain grave injuries and may struggle to return to full health, while others possess a remarkable ability to regenerate damaged tissue. A new study suggests whale sharks may have more in common with the latter group than previously thought.

Scientists have sequenced the genome of a “living fossil” from the time our ancestors first crawled out of the oceans. The Australian lungfish genome is the largest of any animal sequenced so far, revealing it to be our closest living fish relative.

It has generally been thought that electric eels are purely solitary animals, which stalk prey on their own. Now, however, scientists have described seeing the creatures hunting in packs – which only nine other fish species are known to do.