Page 6 - TBAS-January-2021

-6- TBAS January 2021 ....................
at any given time the substrate
will typically hold eggs at virtually
every stage of embryonic
development, with some always
ready to hatch whenever the
rains eventually return - this is
the key to survival.
When the pond fills with
water, the environment immediately
around the eggs is drastically
altered, triggering those eggs
at full development to hatch, and inducing the others to resume development. The
whole process appears magical; There are videos on utube.com that show baby fish
swimming in slightly depressed hoof prints that filled with less than an inch of
water after a short rain. To the local people, these fishes seem to appear out of nowhere
as soon as the seasonal rains return, supporting the legend that fish, supernaturally,
‘fall from the sky with rain’. All this aside, the process in its complexity, developed
over millions of years of evolution can easily be mistaken for magic; perhaps it
really is!!

Nothonranchius rachovii Beira

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