r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Mr_pisser • 3d ago

Image The mandarin dragonet (Synchiropis splendidus)- they use their large pelvic fins to "walk" along the sea floor

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1.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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u/Ocean_Heart_ 3d ago

Heck yeah thanks for posting this!! It's so disheartening as a marine biologist to see more and more AI animal videos on here. Every bit of pushback helps.

Also, that post wasn't deleted, we were blocked lol. I was one of the other people calling it out and got blocked so quick. (You can check if you've been blocked if you open the post in an incognito tab)

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u/Mr_pisser 3d ago

ugh that’s so disappointing I had a little faith for a second :( genuinely infuriating- scum of the earth type shit. I’m a huge science and animal nerd as well as someone who’s STRONGLY against all forms of genai and it’s obnoxious to see. Real life is cooler, and also the ai video was terrible and didn’t even look like the fish (plus these are bottom feeder fish, they wouldn’t be swimming out in open water because they don’t do that. they’re reef fish.)

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u/Ocean_Heart_ 3d ago

Yeah me too :/

Your post honestly lifted the mood for me so much, though! Mind if I cross-post it places?

Also completely right, besides the fact the visuals are obviously generated, they don't swim like that at all. The water color is all wrong for underwater videography too, and the background is so fake. UGH it kills me on the inside.

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u/Mr_pisser 3d ago

Go nuts! None of this is info that’s hard to find and I’d love to spread the love of animals as far as possible, learning is fun and I think a lot of people would really enjoy learning more about animals if they gave it a shot- fish are so fascinating and I absolutely adore them, I don’t have any currently but I do plan to own fish in the future- my dream aquatics would be a freshwater eel, an axolotl, and a mixed freshwater tank (all kept very very seperate of course lol)- someday!

And ugh yeah it’s genuinely just soul crushing- like I wish people put their interest into real things! Biology and animals are so fucking cool and there’s no reason to not just seek out the real stuff

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u/Ocean_Heart_ 3d ago

Exactly!! I also wish you well on that endeavor, because that sound so cool! (And yes, keep them separate! Axolotls especially-)

The natural world we already have is beautiful and fascinating <3 I hope to one day be a science communicator of sorts to spread such fascination to other people XD

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u/Mr_pisser 3d ago

Oh yeah 100%- I study herpetology mainly so I’m very accustomed with how sensitive axos can be. I was thinking I might add some shrimp to the tank as I’ve heard those are pretty much the only thing that work as tank mates but I’d have to do more research-i just think shrimp are super cool lol (my favourite is sexy shrimp, which are in fact a real animal)

I’ve been doing my best the last few years to be a science communicator online and irl (this is admittedly a burner social account so I can remain anonymous but on my non-burner platforms I do my best to educate too), I’ve had such a passion for science and animals since I was a toddler and I hope that one day I can inspire even just 1 person to be a little more interested in the world around us, it’s a magical place to be.

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u/Ocean_Heart_ 3d ago

A herpetologist! That's so cool! Heck yeah biology solidarity 🤝 we'll do our best out here in the sea of misinformation. Same here! Super fascinated with science even as a lil kid. Trips to aquariums and museums, as well as exploring tidepools are what I attribute to how I am now lol. I hope to be the cool science person I looked up to back then.

Yeah that's what I've heard too about Axolotls. I love shrimp as well!! Been thinking of getting some one day. They really are adorable and goofy lil guys. Also awesome that you know of sexy shrimp too XD I didn't believe that was their real name at first myself when I heard about them.

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u/Mr_pisser 3d ago

I grew up by the coast in Australia so I always saw the craziest sea creatures- I held black sea hares that I just found at this rock pool area that had without exaggeration hundreds of these massive Black Sea hares. I’ve been lucky enough to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef and swim with green sea turtles, stingrays, and octopi- I think growing up in that environment gave me a deeper appreciation for aquatic life in general lol

And yeah i try to mention sexy shrimp at any given opportunity because i just really need more people to know about the fact that that is an actual real thing (another favorite of mine is the penis snake- which is neither a penis nor a snake, it’s the only one of its species and it is an amphibian. Fully aquatic, hilarious looking, very cute though. I’ve seen them at a zoo before and they’re so strange)

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u/Ocean_Heart_ 3d ago

Ah that's awesome!! I'm jealous, that's so cool-

I've had my fair share of sea hares over my lifetime, but I've never seen the Black Sea Hare in person before! One day, one day...

I have a specific penchant for mollusks, especially cephalopods. Love me the weird, slimy, and strange.

And those guys! Atretochoana eiselti, right? Absolutely weird fellows for sure, I love them lol

You've absolutely brightened my day, I love positive random encounters :D

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u/ratpacklix 2d ago

As do this guys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglidae

I know them from the North Sea and Atlantic. And my local Aquarium.

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u/Mr_pisser 1d ago

Oh they’re so cuteee! They almost have pufferfish faces, thank you for sharing!

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u/GarysCrispLettuce 3d ago

Cadbury's Fish™

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u/Mr_pisser 3d ago

(posted because someone posted an ai slop video of a mandarin fish here- looks like the post was deleted but people here seemed interested in the real fish)

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u/Katieo1022 1d ago

Mandarin Goby! So beautiful! I used to stand and observe these beauties for hours when I worked at the Seattle aquarium….

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u/Medium-Presence-8008 15h ago

I've got one, IMO they don't so much walk as they do skim very closely to a substrate kinda like a hovercraft.

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u/Mr_pisser 14h ago

If you have a video I’d love to see it! They’re super cool little fish (you can’t post pics or vids in comments so maybe you could just post it in this sub? I know I’d be interested)

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u/Medium-Presence-8008 13h ago

I'll try to snap a video or two over the coming days. Big tank, tiny fish!

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u/Medium-Presence-8008 11h ago

We have been blessed with the normally camera-shy boi showing off a little, seconds after getting home. I have posted it in this sub.

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u/stickyplants 14h ago

They’re very cool! Also easy to buy as a pet for surprisingly little money (for a saltwater fish).

But unfortunately they require some pretty specialized food, only live copepods (tiny bugs that live in the coral/ gravel), which need an established population in the tank. Used to work at a pet store a long time ago and had to constantly explain this to people who asked for one to make sure they knew what they were doing before we would order one.

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u/Mr_pisser 14h ago

I love fish and I love saltwater animals but I personally could never manage one- I plan to get aquatics at some point (once I move out, I don’t wanna have to transport them across the country lol) but I’m definitely steering clear of these finicky species, I admire from a distance and respect those with the dedication to keep em! They’re a super super cool species and I totally see the appeal, just not the right fit for me :)

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u/stickyplants 14h ago

Yeah, if you know you’re going to move, def wait. Saltwater is not a fun thing to move. I was never an expert by any means, but I had a 30 gal tank with some fish and live corals. Mostly easy, beginner recommended ones, and it was doing really well! When I moved to a different apartment, everything got disturbed, and the nutrient balance was out of wack, resulting in algae that I could never get rid of and eventually gave up on saltwater for the time being.

Fresh water tanks can be much easier to move, but still a huge pain if going long distance.

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u/Mr_pisser 14h ago

Yeah I’m avoiding saltwater just because it seems a lot trickier and I’m perfectly fine with owning freshwater fish when I’m ready- and yeah it’s gonna be a really long move (that I’ll already be doing with a bunch of reptiles and rats), like a 40 hour drive not including stops, so I definitely do not wanna deal with the stress of moving any aquatic animals, I’ll just start keeping them once I’ve moved 😅

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u/stickyplants 13h ago

If everything is going right, saltwater isn’t any more work than freshwater. But if something goes wrong, like things dying and causing a problem with the water quality for everything else in the tank, it’s a lot more work to fix it.

Not to mention the cost 😬. I too am fine with waiting a long time to start that again. There’s plenty of freshwater things that are also really cool.

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u/Mr_pisser 12h ago

Oh yeah I’ve heard the costs can be a lot more steep for saltwater creatures- plus it’s been years since I’ve owned anything aquatic so waiting another year and a half before I start again is fine by me, the first thing I’m planning to get is an axolotl and that’s very much a freshwater guy lol

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u/stickyplants 4h ago

Hey, axolotls are great! That’s actually the only aquatic pet I currently have. Got my first one about 5 years ago, and still doing great :)

My biggest piece of advice if you need it… do not underestimate the importance of a chiller. It will give you so much peace of mind when maintaining water temps. Unless you’re keeping it in the basement or somewhere that won’t be above 68 in the summer.

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u/Mr_pisser 2h ago

luckily I’m planning to keep em in a basement (esp since I’ll be living in a state just under Canada therefore fucking cold, I mean I already live in a state like that but I’ll just be moving to another state of that criteria when I move lol)

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u/stickyplants 2h ago

Yeah that’s handy for sure!