Hip Shot Cartoons by Andy White

Dancing Jellyfish

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Toy Fish

Rainbow Reef™ Magic-Action™ Trigger Fish

Water-Activated! Motorized swimming motion starts as soon as the fish hits the water!

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Talking Fish: Wide Variety of Sounds Discovered

Increasingly scientists are discovering unusual mechanisms by which fish make and hear secret whispers, grunts and thumps to attract mates and ward off the enemy.

In just one bizarre instance, seahorses create clicks by tossing their heads. They snap the rear edge of their skulls against their star-shaped bony crests.

This and other discoveries made in recent years come as the focus on the sounds that fish make is growing beyond "really loud sounds that last a long time," fish behaviorist Timothy Tricas at the University of Hawaii at Manoa told LiveScience. "Seahorse clicks are brief, only about five to 20 milliseconds," he said.

Swordfish and jellyfish thrive in warm N. Atlantic

Parts of the North Atlantic are setting winter heat records, allowing species ranging from swordfish to jellyfish to thrive beyond their normal ranges in a shift linked by many scientists to global warming.

Temperatures in Arctic waters off northern Europe at the tail end of the Gulf Stream, for example, are about 6.7 Celsius (44.06 Fahrenheit), the highest for early January since records began in the 1930s, according to Norway's Institute of Marine Research.

The world's oceans are already in a warming trend that could alter fish stocks, perhaps damaging coral reefs that are vital nurseries for tropical species while boosting northern stocks of cod or herring.

"The global oceans have been warming since the middle 1970s and several studies have shown that the warming can be attributed to a human-produced signal," said James Hurrell of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Off New York this week, rescuers guided eight dolphins into open water after they became stranded in a shallow cove, apparently because unusually warm waters meant fish on which they feed were staying closer to the coast.

A type of Black Sea jellyfish seems to have become established off Scandinavia, perhaps flushed out of the ballast tanks of visiting ships and now able to survive because of less chilly waters in winter.

Small Pond

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Chilean Sea Bass: Back in Stores But Still in Trouble

A trendy fish nearly loved to death by diners has received a limited green stamp of approval.

But conservationists warn that the Patagonian toothfish, known commercially as the Chilean sea bass, remains in serious trouble.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)—a London-based nonprofit that certifies fish from sustainable, monitored fisheries—has given its OK to Patagonian toothfish caught in one fishery.