Notes

Amazing Animal Behaviour: The Tool Using Tuskfish
That our world's wildlife is both remarkable and highly adaptable is no secret. But what's now only becoming clear with advances inside our own technology is the scope of these physical and cognitive abilities. The amazing capabilities of our marine wildlife has recently been in the spotlight with the release of acclaimed naturalist Sir David Attenborough's latest nature documentary, the outstanding Blue Planet 2.
Footage of the tuskfish on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, gaining access to the meat within a clam shell is just one on the countless never-before-filmed moments that the Blue Planet 2 team has captured. The footage was captured by means of sophisticated underwater camera equipment, but it is the fish's clear ability to problem solve so that you can access a food source that is this type of landmark discovery.

The Ingenious Tusk Fish

To obtain why the fish's behaviour is so extraordinary it's essential to understand its complexity. Firstly, Additional info exposes a clam buried in the sand by snapping shut its gill covers at high speed, developing a gush of water to uncover the clam. It then takes its prey between its jaws and smashes it against a bit of coral repeatedly and precisely, before shell breaks and the soft flesh is revealed. The fish then devours the flesh and spits out any fragments of shell.

Tools and Tenacity

But the most remarkable aspect of this behaviour is that a fish uses its particular piece of coral each time, which has been chosen because of its anvil-like properties. The team identified and filmed a tuskfish returning multiple times during the day to the same little bit of coral to harvest clams, sometimes opening them in less than 5 minutes, but other times taking up to an hour to complete the task.

That the fish uses exactly the same sequence of behaviours to uncover the clam, return to the same site, and then smash open the shell reveals that it not only uses tools (putting it in the elite band of wildlife that does so), but that in addition, it has the ability to forward plan. You can find piles of clam shells all over the sea bed in the fantastic Barrier Reef, confirming that this is not any isolated behaviour.

Persistence and Planning

While this is not the first time this sort of behaviour had been reported in the fish, the Blue Planet 2 sequence may be the first professional footage ? and equal levels of persistence and planning. The camera team spent more than 100 hours filming in the waters of the fantastic Barrier Reef to capture the intimate and revealing footage, that is now being used to document further research into marine wildlife.

Uncover the Last Great Wilderness on a Wildlife Cruise

While Sir David Attenborough continues to introduce us to such astonishing and resourceful marine creatures as a fish that uses tools, it's a safe bet that there are far more mysteries of the ocean still undiscovered than even he could ever imagine. Exploring our oceans on a separate wildlife cruise is among the best methods to gain a small, privileged view into a few of the only untouched wilderness areas left on earth.

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Marissa Ellis-Snow is really a freelance nature writer with a special interest in marine species. For nature lovers interested in a dedicated wildlife cruise, Marissa recommends thetours organised by Naturetrek, which have brought her unforgettable sightings of an array of species in one of the most spectacular regions on Earth.
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