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The Spookfish was discovered 120 years ago,
and it looked as if it had four eyes, in fact it only has two,
each of which is split into two connected parts. One half point
upwards, giving it a view of the ocean above, and potential
food, and the other half, which looks like a bump on the side of
the fish’s head, point downwards into the abyss below, keeping
an eye out for other creatures below it’s vulnerable
belly. These ’diverticular’ eyes are unique among all
vertebrates in that they use mirrors to create an image. No one
had
discovered its reflective eyes until now because a live animal
had never been caught.
Recently a live specimen was caught off the
Pacific island of Tonga and members of a research team used
flash photography to confirm the fish’s upward and downward
gazes. Photographs taken looking down on the live fish produced
eye-shine in the main tubular eyes that point upwards but not in
the diverticular eyes that point downwards; instead, these
reflect light when seen from below.
When looking at sections of the eyes that had
been prepared for microscopy the research team found that the
mirrors uses tiny plates, (probably made of guanine crystals,
the stuff that make slivery fish look silvery,) and the
arrangement and orientation of the guanine crystals is precisely
controlled so that they direct the light to a focus. Computer
simulation showed that the precise orientation of the plates
within the mirrors curved surface is perfect for focusing
reflected light onto the fishes retina.
The use of a single mirror has a distinct
advantage over a lens in its potential to produce bright,
high-contract images. That must give the fish a great advantage
in the deep sea, where the ability to spot even the dimmest and
briefest of light can mean the difference between eating and
being eaten.
 A
foot long Lumpsucker Fish was landed by a Newquay fisherman on
January 15th and presented alive to the Blue Reef Aquarium,
Newquay. Lumpsuckers spend most of their time in deep water, but
spring time they come into the shallows to spawn. The female
returns to deep water but the male remains to protect the clump
of up to 200,000 eggs until they have hatched. The male attaches
himself to a rock with a sucker disk on the underside and not
only guards the eggs but also keeps them ventilated. Females are
usually dark grey to greenish but the breeding male orange to
brick red.
Diatoms are one-celled organisms that live in
exquisitely ornate glass cases, and are so prolific they account
for a quarter of all the photosynthesis on the planet. In
photosynthesis organisms use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make
sugar and oxygen. But why live in a glasshouse? Researchers have
found that the benefits are enormous. It’s all to do with the
chemistry of silicon, a chief ingredient of glass. Researchers
found that silica in the glass changes the acid-base chemistry
of the water inside the shell, creating ideal conditions for one
of the chemical reactions involved in photosynthesis.
 The
study offered an explanation for why diatom shells are ornate.
The many pores and filigrees create a lot of surface area,
exposing much more glass to water than would be the case for a
smooth structure. That extra surface area might make
photosynthesis more efficient for the diatom. These are pretty
things and their beauty might in fact be related to their
function. They are also very useful to us because they are using
up the carbon dioxide that we create, which is causing global
warming.
A pod of 6 to 9 Bottlenose Dolphins,
including a juvenile, was seen moving along the coast between
Longrock and Penzance on 5th January, the only other reports of
Bottlenose during January were off Cape Cornwall at 0830 and
again in the afternoon at 1650 hrs.
A pod of 15 to 20 Common Dolphins moved in
from the west to a point about 1km off Gwennap Head at 0945 hrs
and stayed loafing at the surface until 1200 or later on January
8th. There were also 5 Harbour Porpoise about 1 to 1½ Km SW of
the lookout during that time.
Single Harbour Porpoises were seen off
Pendeen Watch in very rough seas on 23rd and feeding off St.
Clements Isle on 26th. There was also the Lumpsucker mentioned
above.
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