Re: NANFA-L-- World's Smallest Fish?

Jerry Baker (nanfa-in-bakerweb.biz)
Thu, 26 Jan 2006 14:23:29 -0800

dlmcneely-in-lunet.edu wrote:
> I have no idea what you said or meant in the message below.
>
> The report stated that the newly described species is the world's
> smallest known fish, and in fact it is the world's smallest known
> vertebrate. One individual female was measured-in-7.9 mm TL. No other
> adult fish has ever been measured smaller. The individuals pictured do
> not happen to be the smallest individuals measured. That's pretty
> simple. No, the smallest individual would not have to be the largest.
> The smallest individual would be the smallest. Who's on first?

I think you are misunderstanding the original poster. I think another
way to put it is this: if I found a 7.9mm neon tetra, did I just
discover the world's smallest species of fish, or a small neon tetra? If
the population of these new fish is usually larger than 9mm, but one
individual was 7.9mm, does that make this the world's smallest species
of fish or just an extraordinarily small individual fish?

Claiming that it is the world's smallest fish implies that the mean
length of individuals across the entire population is smaller than that
of any other species. Why would you herald the discovery of the smallest
fish and then offer pictures of larger ones. Seems strange.
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