[HN Gopher] Tuna use sharks as back scratchers despite risk of b...
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Tuna use sharks as back scratchers despite risk of being eaten
Author : rntn
Score : 42 points
Date : 2022-10-20 12:47 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.newscientist.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.newscientist.com)
| didgeoridoo wrote:
| Hamuko wrote:
| Sharks are only smooth in one direction. They're smooth from
| front to back, but rough from back to front.
|
| https://passportocean.com/2019/12/11/shark-skin/
| didgeoridoo wrote:
| You're half right. They are smooth from front to back, but
| also, from back to front.
|
| (...sorry I shouldn't have started this)
| amelius wrote:
| This explains why they mostly swim in the forward direction.
| usednet wrote:
| Almost right at the beginning - "Shark skin is really smooth in
| one direction and it's like sandpaper in the other."
|
| Try at least skimming an article before commenting.
| dmix wrote:
| https://imgur.com/gallery/ad3je
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| girvo wrote:
| This is HN, rather than Reddit, so the replies are basically
| all serious from what I can see. One of the "dangers" of
| memeing on here I think
| greggsy wrote:
| It's the main reason why I spend more time here than Reddit.
| You're almost guaranteed to get some thoughtful responses
| instead of the usual memes or hilariously witty and clever
| quips.
| unaindz wrote:
| I do scuba diving as a hobby and I have touched a few sharks.
| Every one of them had rough skin, just like sandpaper actually.
| telman17 wrote:
| Yikes! That would terrify me. Do the sharks seem bothered by
| it?
| DavidAdams wrote:
| That stupid smooth sharks meme has been taking up space in my
| brain all these years that could be used for remembering my
| wedding anniversary, but -\\_(tsu)_/-
| nvr219 wrote:
| An allegory of partnering with big tech companies.
| [deleted]
| greggsy wrote:
| Except the Tuna have are usually able to get away unharmed
| after showing their hand to the shark.
| Hamuko wrote:
| There's all sorts of weird relationships between sharks and other
| fish. Like the fish that live off by performing dentistry for
| sharks inside their mouths.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5EszU8yuA8
| sh4un wrote:
| pipeline_peak wrote:
| Between this and the Hemingway post the other day, HN seems to
| have a weird tuna fixation, stay tuned-a
| gerdesj wrote:
| A tuna is a seriously fast fish. Note that they rub at the back
| end of the shark, which is the obvious place to go. If the shark
| gets annoyed the tuna can get away rapidly and get a very decent
| head start before the shark has turned and got going.
|
| The sharks are probably not bothered about being used for
| grooming because it is reassuring to have your lunch check in and
| say hi occasionally.
|
| 6,000 camera deployments of two to three hours each. 117,000
| individuals seen from 261 species. 106 rubbing behaviour samples
| spotted. The article doesn't quite get the rest of the stats
| sorted out, giving two percentages. Let's say there were roughly
| 50 tuna on shark rubbing sessions.
|
| Some tuna are nails and probably impressing the girly tuna!
| jackconsidine wrote:
| Assuming that of the 108 instances of shark rubs, none got eaten,
| because the article didn't say otherwise. The title says "despite
| risk of being eaten" so this data point would be interesting
| europeanguy wrote:
| If this seems strange, remember that tuna have no arms. How else
| would they scratch themselves?
| andyjsong wrote:
| I wonder how many years of evolution it took for tunas to target
| the back end of a shark instead of the front.
|
| And how many more years it will take before tunas can grow
| fingernails and scratch their own parasites off?
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(page generated 2022-10-23 23:00 UTC)