Sensation: Rotten Fish Tastes Nasty!
By Lynne Sheppeard
Following a series of in-depth experiments with marine life, scientists from Georgia, USA, have shocked the world. They found that 10/10 crabs prefer not to eat the extra mouldy fish food prepared for them; they preferred fresh fish.
The team were attempting to prove the theory that microbes compete with large animal scavengers by producing repugnant chemicals that deter 'higher' species from consuming valuable food resources – such as decaying meat, seeds and fruit.
They have been unable thus far to isolate the exact chemical responsible, but remain convinced that the foul, smelly microbes producing it deserve our hearty respect.
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Team leader Mark Hay said microbes ‘are often omitted or relegated to a minor role in the food web diagrams, but they should be depicted as direct competitors with larger animals.’
Well, as a fully-fledged member of a higher species, I am not going to wrangle with these mini-predators over the discarded innards of a three week old fish carcass. Maybe Hay is on to something after all.
Image: Luke McAdam
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