Meet The Bony-Eared Assfish And Its Deep Sea Friends
Short Wave
NPR
4.7 • 6.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2023
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kai recently returned from an expedition aboard an Australian research ship to explore the deep seas surrounding a new marine park in the Indian Ocean. Led by the Museums Victoria Research Institute, dozens of scientists aboard mapped the ocean floor and, using nets dropped to as deep as six kilometers, gathered thousands of specimens, ranging from the utterly adorable deep sea batfish to the terrifying highfin lizardfish to the unfortunately named bony-eared assfish.
Today on the show, Kai takes host Aaron Scott on a tour of the ocean floor and the fantastical creatures that call it home.
"They are masters of the realm," says Kai. "You can't live in 3,000 meters of water and not be a master at what you do. And the fact that these creatures are living down there, thriving and making the most out of these habitats, that's a remarkable feat."
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to shortwave from NPR. |
| 0:05.0 | Dr. E. K. T. loves to talk about fish. |
| 0:08.0 | His social media handle is Kai the fish guy. |
| 0:11.0 | And so after a recent trip on a deep sea research vessel, |
| 0:14.0 | he was pretty excited. |
| 0:16.0 | If you talk to me with fishes, I can literally go on and on. |
| 0:19.0 | And when I'm giving presentations in my office |
| 0:22.0 | or my lab group, I tend to go on and on and on about one particular fish |
| 0:26.0 | and they're like, cut it down, cut it down. |
| 0:28.0 | Big picture. Talk about a big picture. |
| 0:30.0 | I feel like I would be remiss if I can at least ask about the bony ear to ask fish. |
| 0:36.0 | Yeah. Bony ear to ask fish. |
| 0:38.0 | It's a fish that I really wanted to find on this trip. |
| 0:41.0 | And we got one on our very first troll in remarkable condition. |
| 0:45.0 | It has a bulbous gelatinous head with really tiny eyes. |
| 0:50.0 | It has a sad looking, droopy mouth. |
| 0:53.0 | And it has big, spiny projections behind its head |
| 0:57.0 | that has given it its common name, bony ear. |
| 1:01.0 | Ask fish. |
| 1:03.0 | Ask fish. Where does the ask fish come from? |
| 1:05.0 | You know, one of my colleagues actually lets you guys on the etymology behind ask fish. |
| 1:09.0 | I, for the life of me, cannot remember |
... |
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