Free Republic

PARIS, Nov 11 (AFP) - Herrings appear to be sociable fish who like to communicate among themselves and use their natural flatulence to do so, a team of British and Canadian researchers has reported. A report in the British review Biology Letters describes how the researchers studied the sounds produced by two kinds of captive, wild-caught herring. "At night herring squeeze bubbles out of their swimbladders through an anal pore, producing sounds not unlike people blowing raspberries," the team of three recounts. The Pacific species (Clupea pallasii) were found to emit distinctive bursts of pulses, known as fast repetitive tick...