An unprecedented video shows that the straight climbing catfish on a cascade

In the wild, the catfish leads an elusive life, elected the detection of scientists hoping to know more about their lifestyles. And so, when the police received strange piles of fish-chat at the bottom of a cascade, they immediately contacted a team of scientists to do a detective work.

After looking at the fish for about 20 hours, the researchers came to the conclusion that these Rhyacoglanis Parannsis—S Orange and black species of bumblebee -chat fish common to South America – were stiff and vertical waterfalls in a team. An article published on August 8 in the Journal of Fish Biology Record this bizarre but remarkable moment.

“I would say that it was a delicious surprise for all of us, crazy about fish, to attend all the little Bumblebee cat fish gathering in a huge effort to climb the rocky walls – a big moment!” Manoela MF Marinho, principal author of the study and biologist at the Federal University of Mato Grosso Do Sul, told Gizmodo in an email.

The secret life of catfish hikers, explained

The catfish started their ascent after 6 p.m., gathering by the thousands at the bottom of the small waterfalls. The steep the climb, the more the fish seemed to move solo; Some have even slipped upside down through the crevices ceilings. More teamwork was exposed near the more flat rocks, where the catfish climbed on top of each other to overcome the rock.

Researchers are not quite sure why fish adopt this behavior. Based on dissections and the moment of observation, they believe that the catfish probably migrated upstream to reproduce. They did not seem to have eaten either. But this behavior do seem to be instinctive: “They have also climbed artificial objects, such as our plastic bucket,” reports the paper.

The study demonstrates the value of field observations in ecology and how To hunt strange relationships can lead to precious and unexpected discoveries.

Personally, I always thought that the catfish was fresh. There is something strangely charming in their flat construction and similar to sausages. And now that we know that these are good hikers? Even cooler.