3
Fish Opens Clam
"What the movie shows is very interesting. The animal excavates sand to get the shell out, then swims for a long time to find an appropriate area where it can crack the shell. It requires a lot of forward thinking, because there are a number of steps involved. For a fish, it's a pretty big deal."
—I'll say! University of California ecology and evolutionary biology professor Giacomo Bernardi talks about the orange-dotted tuskfish he filmed opening a clam with the help of a rock. It is the first filmic evidence of tool usage by a fish. I can't wait for the next scene, when the fish uses a fork to twirl up the spaghetti vongole he's made for himself because it is impolite to slurp at the dinner table.
Even more amazing, both the fish and the clam are actually a single mimic octopus.
On the one hand, calling this set of behaviors "a pretty big deal" is sort of patronizing to the fish. On the other hand, calling a random big rock a "tool" is giving Mr. Fishypants WAY too much credit. I'm torn about how I should think about this!
@DMcK Ha! And when I hit the "back" button it showed the Maroon 5 video instead of the fish thing, so problem solved.