The fish that kept time with the tide

Gosse quotes Ross of Topsham, whose account first appeared in October 1847. Ross reported five months of tide-linked behaviour; this was not a controlled experiment. Gosse rejected the inference that the fish needed these land-water alternations to survive.[[cite:5]] Later experiments found endogenous tidal rhythms in the species, but do not validate the precise five-month claim.[[cite:6]]

A stone in a glass vessel, a tide outside, and a fish that seemed to know the time.
A fish with a tide clock?
In 1847, a keeper noticed something odd: his captive shanny kept trying to leave the water.
A stone changed the story.
Ross added a perch. The fish climbed out near low tide, then returned to the water as the tide rose outside.
The tide can leave a rhythm behind.
Later experiments found an internal tidal rhythm in this species. Ross’s five-month report remains an observation, not a controlled test.

The fish that kept time with the tide

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