Cowfish: The Mutant Superheroes of the Ocean

Cowfish: The Mutant Superheroes of the Ocean

Source: naturespoisons

6/8/2022

Credit: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Stan Lee, creator of the mutant superheroes X-Men, wishes he could have come up with a mutant power as awesome as the cowfish. The only similar creature I know of is The Spleen, a member of Champion City’s crime fighting team Mystery Men, with the ability to fart at will and render evil-doers unconscious. But the ability to kill? That’s cowfish territory.

The cowfish, Lactoria cornuta, is a variety of boxfish and a cousin of the paralytic, poisonous pufferfish. They make their home in tropical and subtropical coral reefs in the ocean waters from East Africa to Japan, and feed on just about anything, from algae to small fish and crustaceans. What sets the cowfish apart from other reef denizens is their ability, when threatened or stressed, to discharge poison through their skin to incapacitate and kill predators and would-be muggers.

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
3351	Plan would use poison to restore Yellowstone cutthroat trout	wyofile	2021-09-21	US
3352	Fisherman goes deep to catch record fish	usatoday	2021-09-21	US
3353	How Transparent, 'Vampire' Catfish May Travel Unseen Through the Amazon River	gizmodo	2021-09-20	BZ
3354	Troubled Waters	earthobservatory	2021-09-25	US
3355	Ученые проанализировали уровни концентрации плутония в Енисее	RG	2021-09-28	RU
3356	Salmon Snagging is Legal In Alaska	fishncanada	2021-09-26	CA
3357	A new $350 million Bering Sea fish fight could hinge on a miniature Canadian railroad	Alaska Public Media	2021-09-05	CA
3358	Indigenous chiefs in N.B. say Fisheries Department officers ignoring fishing rights	ctvnews	2021-09-02	CA
3359	Fangs, beady eyes and slime: Massachusetts angler hauls in rare invasive fish in Canton	wcvb	2021-09-01	US
3360	Naval Officers Left Shocked By Fish With The Body Of A Shark And The Face Of A Pig	brobible	2021-09-09	US
3361	These popular tuna species are no longer endangered, surprising scientists	nationalgeographic	2021-09-04	US
3362	Illegal anglers caught using cruel fishing lines that cause 'lingering death'	staffordshire	2021-09-07	UK
3363	Man builds ‘workshop’ to save fish	Taiwan News	2021-09-14	TW
3364	Angler equates catching record fish to reeling in ‘a large moving log’	usatoday	2021-09-10	US
3365	Angler’s unusual catches include a bizarre, world-record fish	usatoday	2021-09-09	US
3366	What's behind all of the dead fish along Lake Erie?	wkyc	2021-09-07	US
3367	Why some fish are 'junk,' others are protected. Study points to bias against native species	bakersfield	2021-09-16	US
3368	Catch of a lifetime as fisherman reels in two fish on one hook	abc-7	2021-09-21	US
3369	Рыба-вампир использует оригинальный способ перемещения в воде	hightech	2021-09-21	US
3370	Fish kill hits Biscayne Bay as high heat, still waters worsen pollution impacts	miamiherald	2021-09-07	CA
3371	Industrial fishing harbor plan raises a stink in Sierra Leone	mongabay	2021-09-07	SL
3372	Climate change comes for a favorite summer pastime: fishing	nationalgeographic	2021-08-27	US
3373	Spooky spectral fish on show at west Japan aquarium's yokai-themed exhibition until Oct. 31	jsonline	2021-08-30	US
3374	Sex that moves mountains: Spawning fish can influence river profiles	WSU News	2017-10-19	US
3375	5-Year-Old Boy Catches Eel In Chicago River During “Chicago Fishes” Event	chicago.cbslocal	2017-10-19	US

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