Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Fish

Humans take 14 times more adult biomass from the oceans than other marine predators.

Anthropocene

Modern Humans Have Become Superpredators

Most other predators target juveniles, but our species tends to kill more full-grown adults

The larger Pacific striped octopus uses unique prankster shoulder-tapping techniques to lure shrimp prey within arms' reach.

New Research

Tropical Octopus Definitely Mates Beak-to-Beak

Larger Pacific striped octopus couples engage in a host of behaviors unheard of among other octopuses

Corythomantis greeningi frogs carry potent venom in their pouts.

Ask Smithsonian

What’s the Difference Between Poisonous and Venomous Animals?

The first known venomous frogs, discovered in Brazil, raise some basic questions about toxic biology

Unlike the tails of almost all other animals, seahorse tails are more like square prisms than cylinders.

New Research

Why Seahorses Have Square Tails

Engineers show that the animals’ prism-like tails are mechanically superior to cylindrical ones

New Research

Smelling a Fish May Improve Critical Thinking Skills

New research shows that gross smells can foster a healthy sense of distrust

A collection of fish teeth and shark scales from the Early Cenozoic period.

New Research

After the Dinosaurs Died, Earth Experienced the Age of Fish

The fossil record shows how ray-finned fishes took over the planet’s oceans

A cownose ray caught as bycatch off the coast of Virginia

Trending Today

Catch and Release: This Device Could Help Accidentally Caught Fish Survive

The SeaQualizer returns fish safely to the depths of the ocean

Cool Finds

Could the Sounds of Cod Having Sex Save a Species (and an Economy)?

Spying on “spawning haystacks” is helping fishermen make more money and biologists preserve a floundering fish population

American South

Sleep With the Fishes: The Best Places to Spend a Night Underwater

As the weather heats up, escape to these hotel rooms beneath the waves

New Research

In the Future, We Might Take Sunscreen in Pill Form

A discovery in some fish suggests that sunblocking chemicals could be ingested rather than slathered on

A pelican dives for dinner among an unsuspecting school of fish.

Paper Turtles and Frisky Skates Bring This Indoor Seashore to Life

A new exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore takes visitors on a trip to the beach and into the dark depths of the Atlantic

An ocean sunfish hangs out with pilotfishes

New Research

Goofy Looking Ocean Sunfish Are Actually Active Swimmers and Predators

The idea that these giant fish are lazy is just wrong

Cool Finds

A Piranha Was Just Found in an Arkansas Lake

The sharp-toothed fish was likely a pet gone rogue

Cool Finds

Fish Can Adjust Gender Balance in Face of Rising Temperatures

Warmer waters mean fewer female reef fish. But, over generations, populations can restore the balance.

Cool Finds

Colorado Lake Teems with Feral Goldfish

Parks and Wildlife thinks a goldfish owner dumped his pets into a local lake. Now a few years later, the fish swarm the water in thousands

This "Stars and Stripes" toadfish living in Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan is one member of a very noisy kind of fish

New Research

At Night, Fish Communicate With Special Calls, Whistles and Grunts

Dropping a hydrophone into an underwater cave helps researchers make sense of the din

Workers with the Nigiri Project head out to test pens in the flooded rice fields near Sacramento.

Anthropocene

Rice Can Help Save Salmon If Farms Are Allowed to Flood

The Nigiri Project aims to restore the beloved fish by cutting a notch in a California levee and letting some floodplains return to nature

On March 3, 1939, Harvard freshman Lothrop Withington, Jr., swallows a, live, squirming goldfish to win a ten dollar bet. He reportedly practiced the feat for days before by swallowing baby goldfish and tadpoles.

Cool Finds

The Great Goldfish Swallowing Craze of 1939 Never Really Ended

A Harvard undergrad’s $10 bet set off a sensation among college students that still echoes on the Internet today

Trending Today

Finally, the First Fish Ever Is Taken Off the Endangered Species List

The recovery of a tiny fish signals good news for area waterways and proof that, when heeded, protective measures can make a difference

The common ancestor of this Gentoo penguin likely evolved to be incapable of tasting most flavors—but why?

New Research

The Cold May Have Cost Penguins Most of Their Taste Buds

Recent genetic analysis shows that penguins can’t taste sweet or bitter, and scientists think sub-zero temps may be to blame

Page 28 of 35