April 4, 2026
Shellear
Seventeen years ago, Auguste Cocha Manga, a researcher at the Universite de Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, traveled to the Luvilombo waterfall, where he saw something remarkable. Thousands of tinny fish a species called "Shellear" (Parakneria thysi), were climbing up the 50-foot rockface behind the waterfall.
He has filmed the phenomenon, but he ended up losing the footage. So, there was no hard evidence. And Pacifique Kiwele Mutambala, then a Master´s student and now a PhD student at the Université de Lubumbashi was determined to go get some.
To see whether the shellears were actually climbing, Mutambala spent a few rainy seasons at the raucous Luvilombo Falls in search of the fish. And sure enough, he soon saw thousands of them shimmying up the vertical rock surface, seemingly defying gravity. Not all the fish made the climb, only the ones that were a couple inches long or less.
Otherwise, the animal cannot bring it owt weight to the top of the falls. In additional the fish that were scaling the falls didn´t do so in the center, rather in the splash zone.
One of the big questions the researchers had was how the shellears manage to climb. Back in the lab, they reviewed the fish's vertical movements in the video footage and ran CT scans to examine their anatomy and work out how they made their way up the rock face.
They saw that the fish support themselves with their rear pelvic fins. And their front pectoral fins have an array of tiny hooks that function kind of like Velcro, which they use to grip the rock. The fish also have a hefty arch of bone called the pectoral girdle that supports the musculature needed to make the climb.
"Migratory fish are several times more at risk of endangerment or extinction than fish that don't migrate," he says, meaning it's important to protect the habitat across the entire range of the species, waterfalls and all.
Correction Settings
Shellear
Seventeen years ago, Auguste Cocha Manga, a researcher at the Universite dey of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, traveled to the Luvilombo waterfall, where he saw something remarkable.
Seventeen years ago, Auguste Cocha Manga, a researcher at the University of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, traveled to the Luvilombo waterfall, where he saw something remarkable.
Thousands of tinny fish a species called "Sshellear" (Parakneria thysi), were climbing up the 50-foot rockface behind the waterfall.
Thousands of tiny fish a species called "shellear" (Parakneria thysi), were climbing up the 50-foot rockface behind the waterfall.
Tinny = a word to describe a sound that is high-pitched, weak, artificial, and generally produced by low quality speakers
Tiny = very small
I had to Google it to double check, but it looks like you don't have to capitalise "shellear". You don't typically capitalise the common names of species, eg. red kangaroo, clown fish, etc.
He has filmed the phenomenon, but he ended up losing the footage.
He filmed the phenomenon, but he ended up losing the footage.
So, there was no hard evidence.
And Pacifique Kiwele Mutambala, then a Master´s student and now a PhD student at the Université dey of Lubumbashi was determined to go get some.
And Pacifique Kiwele Mutambala, then a Master´s student and now a PhD student at the University of Lubumbashi was determined to go get some.
To see whether the shellears were actually climbing, Mutambala spent a few rainy seasons at the raucous Luvilombo Falls in search of the fish.
And sure enough, he soon saw thousands of them shimmying up the vertical rock surface, seemingly defying gravity.
Not all the fish made the climb, only the ones that were a couple inches long or less.
Otherwise, the animal cannot bring it owtn weight to the top of the falls.
Otherwise, the animal cannot bring it own weight to the top of the falls.
In additional the fish that were scaling the falls didn´'t do so in the center, but rather in the splash zone.
In additional the fish that were scaling the falls didn't do so in the center, but rather in the splash zone.
One of the big questions the researchers had was how the shellears manage to climb.
Back in the lab, they reviewed the fish's vertical movements in the video footage and ran CT scans to examine their anatomy and work out how they made their way up the rock face.
They saw that the fish support themselves with their rear pelvic fins.
And their front pectoral fins have an array of tiny hooks that function kind of like Velcro, which they use to grip the rock.
The fish also have a hefty arch of bone called the pectoral girdle that supports the musculature needed to make the climb.
"Migratory fish are several times more at risk of endangerment or extinction than fish that don't migrate," he says, meaning it's important to protect the habitat across the entire range of the species, waterfalls and all.
Feedback
What an extremely interesting topic! I had never heard of these fish until today, but they seem very cool! This paragraph is excellently written as well. Keep up the good work :)
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Shellear This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Seventeen years ago, Auguste Cocha Manga, a researcher at the Universite de Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, traveled to the Luvilombo waterfall, where he saw something remarkable.
Seventeen years ago, Auguste Cocha Manga, a researcher at the Universit |
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Thousands of tinny fish a species called "Shellear" (Parakneria thysi), were climbing up the 50-foot rockface behind the waterfall.
Thousands of tin Tinny = a word to describe a sound that is high-pitched, weak, artificial, and generally produced by low quality speakers Tiny = very small I had to Google it to double check, but it looks like you don't have to capitalise "shellear". You don't typically capitalise the common names of species, eg. red kangaroo, clown fish, etc. |
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He has filmed the phenomenon, but he ended up losing the footage.
He |
|
So, there was no hard evidence. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
And Pacifique Kiwele Mutambala, then a Master´s student and now a PhD student at the Université de Lubumbashi was determined to go get some.
And Pacifique Kiwele Mutambala, then a Master´s student and now a PhD student at the Universit |
|
To see whether the shellears were actually climbing, Mutambala spent a few rainy seasons at the raucous Luvilombo Falls in search of the fish. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
And sure enough, he soon saw thousands of them shimmying up the vertical rock surface, seemingly defying gravity. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Not all the fish made the climb, only the ones that were a couple inches long or less. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Otherwise, the animal cannot bring it owt weight to the top of the falls.
Otherwise, the animal cannot bring it ow |
|
In additional the fish that were scaling the falls didn´t do so in the center, rather in the splash zone.
In additional the fish that were scaling the falls didn |
|
One of the big questions the researchers had was how the shellears manage to climb. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Back in the lab, they reviewed the fish's vertical movements in the video footage and ran CT scans to examine their anatomy and work out how they made their way up the rock face. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
They saw that the fish support themselves with their rear pelvic fins. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
And their front pectoral fins have an array of tiny hooks that function kind of like Velcro, which they use to grip the rock. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The fish also have a hefty arch of bone called the pectoral girdle that supports the musculature needed to make the climb. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
"Migratory fish are several times more at risk of endangerment or extinction than fish that don't migrate," he says, meaning it's important to protect the habitat across the entire range of the species, waterfalls and all. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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