Apparently killifish are super robust

[mrzap]

01/23/2006 11:02:30 EST
Study: Killifish thrive on pollution
NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- New Bedford Harbor in Massachusetts is one of the most toxic bodies of water in the United States, yet it is home to a thriving population of killifish.

"You'd think nothing, absolutely nothing, would be able to live in New Bedford Harbor," Jim Kendall, president of New Bedford Seafood Consulting, told The Washington Post. "But you'd be dead wrong."

Killifish, 3-inch-long fish common along the Atlantic coast, are sometimes so thick "You could just able walk across on them," said Kendall. Exactly how the killifish survive is a mystery to scientists.

New Bedford Harbor was designated a Superfund site in 1983 by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Post reported. High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls were dumped into the harbor by factories from the 1940s through the 1970s and PCB levels are far above what the EPA says is safe.

Killifish live for about three years, beginning to reproduce after one year. Since PCBs have polluted the harbor for tens of killifish generations, the fish have had a long time to adapt.

Boston University Biology Professor Gloria Callard told the Post, "What we're witnessing is a snapshot of evolution at work."

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Copyright 2006 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

 

[QTOFFER]

Hmmm, I wonder if anything lives in the Hudson or East Rivers?

 

[sherry]

Actually the hudson has a ton of fish. they started making a come back more than a decade ago.

indeed the parks department sponsored a "fishing pier" this year... you caught and threw back... I admit to taking my three year old when friends were already going, knowing full well he could NEVER catch anything.

actually I was wrong.. A crab grabbed onto the line and let itself be hoisted up a few feet before it dove back in : )

 

[Scottm]

I caught a 1 foot striper in the hudson when I lived in New York. there are tons of fish just don't eat many of them.