It appears that Monday, 9/18/06 was a slow news day, as the primary lead stories revolved around fish. If you recall, the area of Indonesia went through a very large tidal wave two years ago following a major earthquake. Scientists that are doing research in the barrier reefs around Indonesia have discovered over fifty (50) new species of new fish and coral. After watching the movie, "Jaws", and thinking it is safe to go into the water again. You might seriously consider your safety when walking on the beach. One of the fish that was discovered was a new shark that actually walks on its fins.



For those of you whom are interested in frogs and like to eat shrimp, a new shrimp was also discovered and is very similar to a Praying Mantis, in that it can camouflage itself into it's environment. I am sure this specie will be a great hit with the Female Alpha Wolf, as she loves both frogs and shrimp.

I have stocked "My Picture" library with all the pictures of these new species, each time the Plumma does a trivia fish identification posting, I am going to flood the blog with species that even he will not be able to identify.

The second "fishy news" that was released today was that one of our most popular fish has joined the "War on Terrorism". The common Bluegill, also known as Sunfish or Bream has joined the ranks. Small numbers of fish are kept in tanks, constantly replenished with water from municipal supplies. Sensors in each tank track the fish around the clock to register changes in their breathing, heartbeat, and swimming patterns. These patterns will change if the fish are in the presence of toxins. Bluegills are considered more versatile than mechanical devices used by most treatment plants and are highly attuned to chemical disturbances in their environment. The City of San Francisco recently installed this type of system which safeguards a population of one million or more people. The fish are protecting the residents from water containing contaminants such as cyanide, diesel fuel, mercury and pesticides. Slight changes in the actions of the Bluegills, the computerized system generates an e-mail alert. New York City has been using this system since 2002 and in one case caught a toxin before it made it to the water supply of this city. The system is called Aquatic BioMonitoring System, which was originally developed by the Army and the cost starts at $45,000.

I am sure that if your want to monitor your personal water supply at home, a tank full of Guppies hooked up to a Mac computer will be just as affective and less costly. Each year when we switch back and forth from daylight savings time, you are suppose to check your smoke detectors. You could also use this reminder to check and feed the Guppies that are protecting you 24 hours a day just like your smoke detectors. Hopefully, all will be safe and you will never get an e-mail from your Guppies.