大月魚成爲世界上首例溫血魚類
The Majestic Opah Is The World's First Truly Warm Blooded Fish!
大月魚成爲世界上首例溫血魚類
The Opah is a striking fish species that can grow as large as 7-feet in diameter and weigh over 100 pounds. Also referred to as moonfish, the giants that can be found in both temperate and tropical seas reside at depths of 150 to 1,300-feet where the waters can be extremely chilly. Scientists have often wondered how the fish can withstand the temperatures given that they lack typical deep sea dweller characteristics like a large heart. Now thanks to some curious California researchers that mystery has finally been solved - The Opah has warm-blood!
月魚是一種大型魚類，它直徑能長到7英尺，重達100多磅。在溫帶和熱帶水下150-1300英尺深度的極寒海域中都可看到它的身影。科學家常對月魚如何能承受這樣的溫度感到奇怪，因爲它的心臟並不像其他深海生物那樣大。現在，好奇的加利福尼亞研究者終於解開了這個謎題——月魚是溫血魚類！
The chain of events leading to the discovery was accidental. It all began in 2012 when Southwest Fisheries Science Center researchers Owyn Snodgrass and Heidi Dewar caught a few more Opah specimens than normal during a research trip off the Southern California coast. Since very little was known about the elusive fish, the scientists decided to take advantage of the unexpected catch and sent some tissue samples to their colleague Nicholas Wegner for dissection.
發現這個結果純屬偶然。在2012年，西南水產科學研究中心的研究員Owyn Snodgrass和Heidi Dewar在去南加利福尼亞海岸做調查的路途中，碰巧多抓了些月魚標本。由於對月魚的奧祕瞭解甚少，他們決定充分利用這次意外的捕獲，送了一些組織標本給他們的同事Nicholas Wegner做解剖。
While the researchers had expected to learn some intriguing facts about the fish's lifestyle, they had not anticipated anything earth shattering. Even Wegner, who specializes in the respiratory adaptations of fast-swimming fish, later admitted that he had always thought the Opah was just another sluggish cold-blooded deep-water species.
研究者們本來是期待對月魚的生活方式多瞭解一些，從沒想過能有如此驚人的發現。專注於遊動飛快的魚類的呼吸適應研究的Wegner後來也承認，自己一直以爲月魚只是遲鈍的冷血深水魚類。
So you can imagine everyone's surprise when Wegner discovered that the opah's gill tissue is webbed with red and blue blood vessels or "rete mirabile." These surprising findings have resulted in a new respect for this fish. According to Wegner, "All indications are that this is a very fast fish and an active predator . . . Specialized for living deeper than those other predators." This shows how much we still have left to learn about the amazing marine animals that reside in our oceans.
所以，你可以想象當Wegner發現月魚腮部組織遍佈紅色和藍色的血管時，人們有多麼驚訝。這個驚人的發現也使人們對月魚產生了新的敬畏。Wegner表示，“月魚遊動飛快，善於捕食，比其他捕食者生活的水域更深，這些都印證了這個結果。”調查結果也說明了神奇的海洋生物身上仍然有太多奧祕值得我們探究。
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