UGA education at its finest

This is a paper I wrote describing a fish I had to create for my Marine Biology lab. I made it out of a Dial soap dispenser and solo cups. Yes, I did get an A.

Dialfish (Sapopiscis)

The Sapopiscis, more commonly known as the dialfish or soapfish, was discovered in 1948 by Bradley Casper. Dialfish have stiff bodies, blue and white coloring and a long mouth. The coloring of the dialfish make it difficult to for predators see and its tough scales allow dialfish to enjoy a lifestyle amongst sea anemone while being unaffected by the toxins. Dialfish feed on bacteria typically found near sea anemone that it can suck in through its unique elongated mouth. The suction of a dialfish is extremely powerful. Dialfish hunt by sucking in lots of water, collecting the bacteria and other useful particles in the stomach, and squeezing the unnecessary water out through the mouth. Dialfish give off a magnificent scent when being cooked which is attributed to the unique combination of the toxins and the deodorant-like particles found amongst the scales. The dialfish is not particularly fast due to the stiff nature of its fins and would be highly susceptible to predators were it not for a highly superior defense mechanism.

Dialfish have the ability to remove poison of the sea anemone and store it in a thin tube near the stomach. When a dialfish senses an attack, it can squeeze its head area down to release this poison into the ocean. Organisms that come in contact with this poison are paralyzed and the dialfish is able to escape most attacks. This makes dialfish lethal to humans if prepared the wrong way. However, the toxins are not effective against its sworn mortal enemy, the clownfish.

When a dialfish comes in contact with a clownfish it typically gets visibly rattled. Its fins and scales will rise up off the body to become as big and intimidating as possible. Once a dialfish and a clownfish have acknowledged each other, the battle is then “on”. At this point, the dialfish will alert other dialfish that he is in need of backup as its only defense mechanism is useless against the clownfish. Clownfish have the advantage in the battle and the only way a dialfish will be able to win the showdown is if his crew shows up in time to prevent a bloodbath. Dialfish resort to headbutting clownfish until the clownfish is considered “abused” which would give the dialfish bragging rights. The headbutts are usually ineffective as dialfish are slow moving causing the headbutts to be rather weak, hence the need for backup and a reliable crew. Clownfish swim around looking cool and impressing the ladies in the surrounding area until one of them gets annoyed with the attacking dialfish and kill it. This is a useful tactic because most marine organisms do not like headbutters. It is unclear who is winning the battle between the two species and depending which species you ask, you would get a different answer.

The battle between clownfish and dialfish is also ongoing in fish courts across the ocean floor. Dialfish became irate when they were not included in the movie “Finding Nemo” and sued the clownfish species for deliberately cutting them out of the film. Dialfish are trying to encourage a movie be created about them as well but results have not been particularly positive for the dialfish thus far.