Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: amused

The Butthead Fish

Mammoth Cave in Indiana has cave fish with an anus in their forehead.  I don't think it matters what name anyone tries to hang on these things.  They are going to be called buttheads. 

Now a cave scientist really needs to write a children's book about them.  That would sell like hotcakes in the gift shop.  A lot of kids love gross or weird things.
Tags: humor, nature, news, wildlife
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  • 8 comments
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ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

May 15 2015, 22:22:44 UTC 6 years ago

Okay, what about benefits? Head control is often easier than tail control. Whales have noses on top of heads so they can breathe easier. Some animals have anal glands or use excrement for scent-marking. I imagine that scent-marking could be very useful for blind navigation. Perhaps the fish uses its poo to make underwater road signs that only it can read.

More far-out possibilities ... really, anything else where controlled deposits would be useful. Feeding colonies of fungi. Feeding some other symbiotic partner. Setting bait for cave crickets.

Any other ideas?
fayanora

Re: Hmm...

fayanora

May 16 2015, 04:03:05 UTC 6 years ago

Maybe it uses its poop as a defensive mechanism, the way some birds spew vomit at attackers?

Or maybe this makes eating its own poo easier.
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

May 16 2015, 04:27:32 UTC 6 years ago

Those are both good ideas!
tomtac

Re: Hmm...

tomtac

May 16 2015, 15:18:47 UTC 6 years ago

Eating its own poo is a good one; it is what rabbits do to leverage the effectiveness of their digestion.

Other reasons for squirting out their head is that it may fertilize the food source, which is a symbiosis, and a last is that it may be used for defense -- during a fight, as the attacker heads for the face, it gets a big squirt. What is left behind is a cloud of stink, which will work better as a screen than the squid's ink cloud (no light so scent is more important) while the buttfish makes a getaway or decides to attack to retaliate.

Ideas for stories (why am I doing this?) : We meet butthead aliens (B.A.), we should keep the above in mind. The humans do not and make out badly when the B.A. shoot them with their excrement during negotiations and fist fights. When they're trapped on a desert planet with them, we starve while they drip their used food matter down into their mouths for further nutrient extraction. The hero makes a deal with the B.A. for enhanced colonoscopy bags, and humans get voluntary colonoscopies for the benefits.
Mugging victims end up fighting off their attackers with SuperSquirter Colonoscopy Bags.