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Full “Worm Moon”


Fish Folk
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You know I have an interesting anecdote. Maybe only interesting to me. I used to work on fishing boats as a biologist and I would always tell the captain it's a full moon tonight you gotta change your strategy tonight if you want to catch fish. They have been fishing for years they would tell me, what does some punk kid know. And every full moon we would end up with empty hooks, almost like the fish were preoccupied with something else. 

 

@Fish Folk for whatever reason your plethora of breeding tanks reminded me of this.

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3 minutes ago, Biotope Biologist said:

You know I have an interesting anecdote. Maybe only interesting to me. I used to work on fishing boats as a biologist and I would always tell the captain it's a full moon tonight you gotta change your strategy tonight if you want to catch fish. They have been fishing for years they would tell me, what does some punk kid know. And every full moon we would end up with empty hooks, almost like the fish were preoccupied with something else. 

 

@Fish Folk for whatever reason your plethora of breeding tanks reminded me of this.

That's interesting! I think that certain fish have a full-moon trigger for spawning under adequate conditions. I have been chasing down the quirky theory that certain fish spawn on a lunar cycle _even if indoors, and blocked off from moonlight_. So far, just one article that mentions it offhand . . . and some personal anecdotes . . . nothing properly scientific. 

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9 hours ago, Fish Folk said:

That's interesting! I think that certain fish have a full-moon trigger for spawning under adequate conditions. I have been chasing down the quirky theory that certain fish spawn on a lunar cycle _even if indoors, and blocked off from moonlight_. So far, just one article that mentions it offhand . . . and some personal anecdotes . . . nothing properly scientific. 

Could be. Is the moon closer during a full moon? Turn out the time the moon is closest (also called perigee) or furthest (also called apogee varies randomly and is not connected to whether the moon is full or not.

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Could it be the moon is brightest on the night of a full moon? Is this the source of the effect? Maybe. If this is it, the day before and the day after a full moon should also be busy times for breeding as the moon is nearly as bright on those nights. What if it is cloudy on the night of the full moon? Does this decrease the effect. What if your fish are indoors (most of mine are) and are influenced by indoor lighting.

If there is increase of spawning during a full moon, then there is an extremely strong logical implication that there is a decrease of spawning at other times during the monthly lunar cycle. Is that during a 'new moon' that is those nights when the dark side of the moon is facing us?

@Fish Folk not only breeds a lot of different kinds of fish, he also keeps good records of spawning dates. What do the records show for the times of the most spawning and just as interestingly the times of the least spawning?

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8 minutes ago, Daniel said:

@Fish Folk not only breeds a lot of different kinds of fish, he also keeps good records of spawning dates. What do the records show for the times of the most spawning and just as interestingly the times of the least spawning?

I’ll have to look that up! My thought started while watching a tour of the Wessel fish house. The windows built into the upper wall and skylights, all to keep his fish on a natural lighting cycle. He may have mentioned moonlight in that video. Then, I started noticing certain fish were spawning on a monthly cycle, and (maybe coincidentally) this seemed to happen on a week with a full moon — though my fish tanks are all artificially lit; no moonlight. Came across a scientific journal article recording higher spawning numbers of certain wild fish _in captivity_ kept _indoors_ during periods with greater moonlight. I’ll check my records and see if there’s any correspondence with spawns. I’m doubtful it will be determinative . . .

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