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[-] Acamon@lemmy.world 112 points 1 year ago

If anyone is curious (as I was):

In real life Nemo's dad would have become female after mommy got eaten. https://evolution.berkeley.edu/fisheye-view-tree-of-life/gender-bending-fish/

"of all the animals, fish are sexually the most fluid" - https://www.bbcearth.com/news/fish-are-the-sex-switching-masters-of-the-animal-kingdom

[-] TheBat@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago

Nemo's dad would have become female after mommy got eaten.

And mated with Nemo. Let's not forget that.

[-] Jrockwar@feddit.uk 19 points 1 year ago

Salmon change sex too if I recall correctly.

[-] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 year ago

I don't think salmon change sex to be honest. It seems from the stuff I could find that sex determination for salmon is mostly chromosomal but with divergence at certain temperature during development (or exogenous hormonal influence obviously).

The coolest paper I found while searching was this:

Natural sex change in fish - ScienceDirect - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0070215318301145

[-] Jrockwar@feddit.uk 4 points 1 year ago
[-] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

No, this is just saying that they have the chromosomes that usually produce male salmon but they have female salmon genitalia. I read that one. Unless I misread they haven't seen these salmon be male and then later female (like the clown fish do).

[-] match@pawb.social 7 points 1 year ago

Is it possible to learn this power?

[-] Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 79 points 1 year ago

Nature is queer in every way imaginable. Diversity is the point.

[-] Smoogs@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Just think of how many species would have been wiped out if it weren’t for adaptation

[-] ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

All of them.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago
[-] octopus_ink@slrpnk.net 58 points 1 year ago
[-] ExhaleSmile@lemmy.world 57 points 1 year ago
[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 20 points 1 year ago

Do you guys like fish sticks?

[-] dalekcaan@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago

No, but I like fish dicks.

[-] jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

I clicked this post expecting to see this image.

You didn't disappoint me.

[-] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 year ago

She's awesome. They also did some Pride crafts and while her two co-workers made those Polaroid picture frames with slogans she made a big angler fish hat. Because she thinks they are awesome (she's right).

[-] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 year ago

Does trans fall into the term gay now? Honest question. I understood the former to be about gender and the latter to be about sexual orientation.

[-] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 35 points 1 year ago

For non-experts it generally falls into the "gay stuff".

(if you can explain the difference between sex and gender you're an expert)

[-] Acamon@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

The aquarium staff hoist the trans flag, and explain that "some fish change gender". The people complaining bring up "gay", but don't seem very well informed about human or aquatic cultures.

[-] aesthelete@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Do they change gender or sex though? I found that confusing. I know some species can change sex.

[-] Acamon@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Fish changing sex is the most common, with pronounced physical sex changes. But they also usually simultaneously change gender, starting to behave in the manner associated with their new sex.

And there is some interesting examples of changes that seem to be more gender based. This study discusses behavior changes in wrasses where "male-typical behaviors such as courtship and aggression" start being seen in certain female fish, leading to changes in social status, before any noticeable changes to gonadal organs (the glands that produce many of the sex hermones).

[-] aesthelete@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Ah, nice. Thanks for the info.

[-] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 year ago

Am trans.

No. Unless you're joking about...The Gays~

[-] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 year ago

Not trying to answer the question, but the only party that suggests that in the original post is "the haters".

[-] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Well the reason I asked is because the "haters" suggest it, but then the entertains it.

And judging from the other answers I've received here, it does not seem to be a settled matter.

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not technically, but a lot of queer people use it as an umbrella term. As the saying goes: we are all f_ggots in the eyes of the state.

[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

“Gay” as a blanket term inclusive of all alternative lifestyles and peoples. Like how saying “you guys” is inclusive of all genders.

…or using the term “Man” to refer to all of humankind.

[-] circledot@feddit.org 10 points 1 year ago
[-] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

I'm not an expert, but I imagine when they change sex, their behaviour changes accordingly.

They don't need to understand social constructs - they're changing gender as a result of changing sex.

[-] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

That’s a stretch. Social constructs are parts of culture. They can be transmitted person to person and they evolve independently of genetics. Is there any evidence that fish have culture? I doubt it.

Look at how men used to dress in Mozart’s time. That was considered the height of masculine fashion. Today a man would have his masculinity questioned for dressing the same way (or otherwise thought of as strange). Nothing about our genetics could explain such a shift in preferences. There’s no reason Mozart-style fashion couldn’t make a return at some point. That is culture. Fish don’t have it, thus they don’t have gender at all.

[-] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

According to the definition posted above, the cultural expressions of biological sex are only one dimension of gender, and you're ignoring the other aspects. I'll accept fish don't have culture, though I bet someone more knowledgeable than I could argue that point. However, let's look at social behavior via a vis courtship rituals. Like birds, some fish develop pretty incredible displays for getting it on. If a fish which has changed its biological sex then changes it's behavior during courtship, that would seem, to me, to indicate a different expression of biological sex independent of genetics (i.e. gender). Unless there is a genealogical basis for courtship displays, which I don't believe to be the case.

[-] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world -5 points 1 year ago

You can argue along those lines but then you’re ultimately arguing against the sex-gender distinction. If you read the full Wikipedia article on gender posted above essentially none of it applies to fish whose behaviour is entirely biological and environmental. We know this because you can substitute any fish in any role for another of the same species and see entirely predictable results.

[-] oyfrog@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Many biologists (myself included) don't anthropomorphize animals because it's impossible to objectively quantify things like "culture". So, my opinion is that some fish change sex, and not their gender (because fish don't have genders, which are human social constructs).

Happy to be corrected if I'm off-base. I'm not an ichthyologist.

[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Patterns of behavior typically tied to one sex or the other. Like doing mating dances or building nests.

[-] TomMasz@piefed.social 9 points 1 year ago

Then there's the eyes of flounders.

Wikipedia

[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

Should've looped on the big screens that recent clip of the two whales "mating". 🤌🏼

[-] embed_me@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago
[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You can easily find the "first video footage of whales making is actually two males" on your own without me handing you the proverbial fish, friend.

this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2025
780 points (97.8% liked)

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