Fishy Memes and What They Mean

I want to fart so hard

Despite what this meme says, this puffer fish does not have to fart. What causes these fish to look like they have really bad gas? It is a defense mechanism that they perform when threatened. The goal of inflating is to multiply the size of the fish and to present their spines. This makes the puffer fish more difficult to bite which makes them less appealing to predators. It’s not a fart, its fear! (Seattle Aquarium, 2021).

“Why Do Pufferfish ‘Puff up’?” Seattle Aquarium, https://www.seattleaquarium.org/blog/why-do-pufferfish-puff#:~:text=Pufferfish%20will%20%E2%80%9Cpuff%20up%E2%80%9D%20as,very%20appetizing%20to%20a%20predator.&text=Most%20puffers%20are%20toxic%20to%20eat.

Image: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/fish-memes.712836/page-2

They gave me a friend once…

Betta fish are infamous for being solitary and territorial creatures that do not get along with others. What many people do not know is that there is a reason that betta fish are so prone to fight. In the 1800s people discovered these fish and found that some of them were very aggressive and prone to fight, so they began to be bred for their aggression, for the purpose of betta fighting (Bryan, 2018). As a result, aggression has been maintained in their genetic makeup to this day.

Bryan, et al. “Why Do Betta Fish Fight?” Bettafish.org, 8 Aug. 2018, https://bettafish.org/faq/why-do-betta-fish-fight/.

Image: https://aminoapps.com/c/betta-keepers/page/blog/betta-fish-memes/V01d_rPqU7uMzn3V45BJVXnWvNdvjEapjvn

You see right through me

The specimen pictured in this meme is the larval form of an eel, from the suborder Elopomorpha. There are many species of eels that have transparent larva, including the conger, moray eel, and the garden eel. These larvae are transported throughout the ocean by currents from their spawning grounds to intertidal areas, where they morph into their adult form (Science Direct, 2021). Once in their adult forms they do not have the same transparent physical characteristic.

“Leptocephalus Larvae.” Leptocephalus Larvae – an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/leptocephalus-larvae.

Image: http://www.quickmeme.com/transparent-fish