Weeds That Swim For Fishes That Don’t

Robin and the Honey Badger’s mission is to recharge biology with originality for you, the non-specialist reader. Exploring the Bio-edge is a series of e-essays presenting lateral thoughts in search of ever more interesting stories from biology. In this e-essay: we discuss sargassum, a ‘seaweed’ that lives on the surface of the ocean. This macroalga provides habitat for other strange creatures, and by daring to swim, forms a triad with two contrasting fishes that both dare to unswim. We integrate information from botany and ichthyology as we cross boundaries between biological disciplines. Our interpretation will reveal the ecological tactics shared by apparently disparate organisms, enriching anyone who has ever pondered the mystique of the Sargasso Sea or wondered how – and why – fishes can possibly fly.

Each morning Robin and the Honey Badger wake up to a world of Nature with new curiosity. Which aspects of the natural world have been underlooked? Which adaptations or non-adaptations of organisms have been downplayed because of some theoretical bias? Which observations have yet to be integrated because of interdisciplinary timidity? How laterally can we think as we cruise the bewildering diversity of life forms on Earth? Join us in our mission of Exploring the Bio-edge in a series of e-essays that fearlessly - but accurately - cover all corners of biology.