Quote:
Originally Posted by BatRay
In general, animals have a much wider range of color vision than humans. That makes me feel cheated.
|
The goldfish is a masterpiece of nature. It has many abilities which could come in useful, and it doesn't have a 3 second memory. Maybe being a goldfish is not so bad.
- It can see a full range of colours, unlike many other vertebrates and most mammals. It also has a very large field of vision, including above the surface.
- It can navigate in the dark by using its lateral line to detect objects.
- It can clone itself - some populations of wild goldfish are all-female and produce identical female offspring.
- Its hypoxic tolerance is very high, so it can live in stagnant water. It is closely related to the crucian carp.
- Unlike most animals, goldfish and some other coldwater fish can function normally with a wide range of body temperatures. I have seen them still reasonably active at 3c and 30c.
- There are more breeds of goldfish than any other fish, and it is thought to be the first to be domesticated. I don't envy them for that, as features include raspberry-like head growths and protruding eyes.
- The ones in pet shops and fairgrounds are not fully grown - they can easily reach 20cm and 1lb, and sometimes a lot more.
- They have 8 teeth, which can only be used for chewing and not biting. The teeth are replaced as they wear out.
- The goldfish is not meant to be orange. Despite its common and latin names describing it as golden, it was originally bronze or brown. Orange ones were specially bred. They are supposed to be unable to survive in the wild, but probably because of the above reasons, they seem to manage very well despite their colour.
