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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Caught in the act: Diver takes first ever photos of a wild fish using a tool

A professional diver has captured the first images of a wild fish using a tool.

Scott Gardner was exploring Australia's Great Barrier Reef when he heard a banging sound from the sea floor.

He swam down to take a look and was amazed to see a blackspot tuskfish - Choerodon schoenleinii - holding a clam in its mouth and hitting it against a rock.

After a short while, the shell broke and the fish ate the bivalve inside.

First photo: A blackspot tuskfish - Choerodon schoenleinii - holds a clam in its mouth and hits it against a rock to break the shell so it can eat the bivalve inside

First photo: A blackspot tuskfish - Choerodon schoenleinii - holds a clam in its mouth and hits it against a rock to break the shell so it can eat the bivalve inside

Fortunately, Mr Gardner managed to photograph this happening as there has never before been any evidence to prove tool use in fish.

Behavioural ecologist Culum Brown, of Macquarie University in Sydney, told Science Now: 'The pictures provide fantastic proof of these intelligent fish at work using tools to access prey that they would otherwise miss out on.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2013498/Diver-Scott-Gardner-takes-photos-wild-fish-using-tool.html#ixzz1RtnIND2H

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