tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407624264627208128.post7027786086375159634..comments2024-01-26T21:38:25.924-08:00Comments on Duane's PoeTree: Alicja Kuberska writesDuanesPoeTreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17053093400086634552noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3407624264627208128.post-23778907178328308222016-05-17T21:17:31.667-07:002016-05-17T21:17:31.667-07:00In 2004 footballer Alan Smith remarked about an op...In 2004 footballer Alan Smith remarked about an opponent on the rival Aston Villa-Portsmouth team that he "started on the right and he's like a fish up a tree," meaning that he was out of his depth or out of his natural position. Since then, the phrase has been popularized by former-footballer-turned broadcaster Paul Merson. Neither athlete was probably familiar with a remark attributed to Albert Einstein: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." However, even Einstein was capable of being wrong! In 1791 Danish explorer Gustav Daldorff was walking along the edge of a swamp in Tranquebar, India, when he saw some fish on the trunk of a tree and saw two more fish crawling across the swampy ground on their pectoral and pelvic spines. These fish were climbing perch (anabas scandens). However, this perch cannot actually perch; they can move over land when it is raining, and they may sometimes escape from feeding birds that have taken them into the trees. They can survive out of the water because they has a mass of spongy substance called arborescence inside their gills, which collects oxygen from the air. In addition, the Asiatic snakehead has pouches under the gills, which fill up with air and allow the fish to extract the oxygen. Some species of Asian catfish have tubes inside their backs that extend the length of their bodies and fill with oxygen from the air. A loach can stay alive out of water by swallowing air in great gulps, which goes to a special lung-like organ which extracts the oxygen. On each side of the throat, the synbranchus of India has a sac or pouch that fills with air, which passes to its gills. Mudskippers, which are found in the streams and rivers of Indian mangrove swamps, often come ashore for a few minutes after taking in an extra supply of water. And lungfish can breathe air directly.DuanesPoeTreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17053093400086634552noreply@blogger.com