A
waterfall-climbing fish in Hawaii uses the same muscles to both rise and feed,
researchers have discovered.
Scientists
looked at the Nopoli rock-climbing goby (Sicyopterus stimpsoni), also known in
Hawaiian as o'opu nopili. This plant-eating fish is found throughout
Hawaii, and was once greatly relished as food, apparently being a favorite snack
among priests.
Many gobies can
inch their way up waterfalls with the aid of a sucker on their bellies formed
from fused pelvic fins. The Nopoli rock-climbing goby, on the other hand, can
climb waterfalls
as tall as 330 feet (100 meters) with the aid of a second mouth
sucker, which develops after their mouthparts move from a forward-facing
position to under the body during a two-day-long metamorphosis
into adulthood.
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