Rudie Hermann Kuiter, Aquatic Photographics, Australien
Info
The British natural scientist Charles Robert Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands, among other places, and studied the 13 endemic species of finches living there very closely.
How was it possible for so many species to get along without much competition for food?
His answer to the question was answered with the "ecological niche", each species had specialized, so there were granivores, insectivores and mixed feeders, which have changed physically over many, many years.
There were many different types of beak:
- thick, chunky beaks for granivores and mixed feeders
- narrower, pointed beaks for insectivores
In addition, there were "ground finches", which foraged mainly on the ground, and "tree finches", which foraged in trees and bushes.
Finally, there were the "woodpecker finches", which used small tools in their search for food, e.g. broken branches or cactus spines to extract insect larvae from boreholes,
Through this adaptation and finding their own niche, the species were able to get along without competing for food.
So what do the finches and the ecological niche have to do with the shieldbelly $last, you may ask?
In the oceans, too, it is true that survival is only possible in ecological niches, and one of these niches, combined with a physical adaptation, is occupied by the shield-bellied finch.
This little fellow prefers more turbulent water areas in which normal small fish would not be able to hold their own against the current.
The shieldbelly has "found" an ingenious solution for this.
Over the course of many, many years, the animal's ventral fins have changed into a suction disk. With the help of this suction disk, the potbelly can suck itself onto objects in strong currents and even hang vertically from rocks and catch food there.
Aspasmogaster liorhynchus is a pale, small scabbardfish that can be found as a bottom dweller in seaward-facing reefs in small groups in caves and under rocky outcrops.
Synonym: Aspasmogaster liorhyncha Briggs, 1955
How was it possible for so many species to get along without much competition for food?
His answer to the question was answered with the "ecological niche", each species had specialized, so there were granivores, insectivores and mixed feeders, which have changed physically over many, many years.
There were many different types of beak:
- thick, chunky beaks for granivores and mixed feeders
- narrower, pointed beaks for insectivores
In addition, there were "ground finches", which foraged mainly on the ground, and "tree finches", which foraged in trees and bushes.
Finally, there were the "woodpecker finches", which used small tools in their search for food, e.g. broken branches or cactus spines to extract insect larvae from boreholes,
Through this adaptation and finding their own niche, the species were able to get along without competing for food.
So what do the finches and the ecological niche have to do with the shieldbelly $last, you may ask?
In the oceans, too, it is true that survival is only possible in ecological niches, and one of these niches, combined with a physical adaptation, is occupied by the shield-bellied finch.
This little fellow prefers more turbulent water areas in which normal small fish would not be able to hold their own against the current.
The shieldbelly has "found" an ingenious solution for this.
Over the course of many, many years, the animal's ventral fins have changed into a suction disk. With the help of this suction disk, the potbelly can suck itself onto objects in strong currents and even hang vertically from rocks and catch food there.
Aspasmogaster liorhynchus is a pale, small scabbardfish that can be found as a bottom dweller in seaward-facing reefs in small groups in caves and under rocky outcrops.
Synonym: Aspasmogaster liorhyncha Briggs, 1955
