Normal adult human beings have mental capacities that will, in certain circumstances, lead them to suffer more than animals would in the same circumstances. If, for instance, we decided to perform extremely painful or lethal scientific experiments on normal adult human, kidnapped at random from public parks for this purpose, adults who entered parks would become fearful that they would be kidnapped. The resultant terror would be a form of suffering additional to the pain of the experiment.
The same experiments performed on nonhuman animals would cause less suffering since the animals would not have the anticipatory dread of being kidnapped and experimented upon. This does not mean, of course, that it would be right to perform the experiment on animals, but only that there is a reason, and one that is not speciesist, for preferring to use animals rather than normal adult humans, if the experiment is to be done at all.
Note, however, that this same argument gives us a reason for preferring to use human infants - orphans perhaps - or severely intellectually disabled humans for experiments, rather than adults, since infants and severely intellectually disabled humans would also have no idea what was going to happen to them.
Showing posts with label Fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fish. Show all posts
In Support of Animal Equal Rights
Aequidens vs. Cichlasoma
Labeled as Cichlasoma sp. 'Guyana', purchased under the assumption that it was not. I purchased two of the fish (one which is definitely a Cichlasoma) and asked specifically for the oddball and another large specimen. I picked them with the intention of finding out what this fish truly is. They are wild caught from Guyana so the possibility of this being a species of Aequidens that got stuck in with the Cichlasoma during transport is reasonable. I'll update if this does turn out to be something more intriguing.
For comparison:
Aequidens or Cichlasoma?
Cichlasoma sp. 'Guyana'
Heros Heroes
Heros efasciatus
Heros sp. "Rotkeil"
Heros efasciatus
Photo credit goes to Japes and Blairo1
Hot Topic
I feel bad for this person. They were duped into buying wild caught P. leopoldi when what they thought they were purchasing was wild caught Pterophyllum scalare. She probably spent $25-50 per fish when they were really worth less. She could have purchased non-wild caught P. leopoldi for $5 from a Petsmart.
Photo credit goes to Jan Fredsholt.
Kullander's Groupings
Cichlasomines: Acaronia, all Central American genera, Astronotus, Australoheros, Caquetaia, Chaetobranchopsis, Chaetobranchus, Cichlasoma, Heroina, Heros, Hoplarchus, Hypselecara, Mesonauta, Pterophyllum, Retroculus, Symphysodon, Uaru.
Acara: Aequidens, 'Aequidens', Bujurquina, Cleithracara, Crenicara, Dicrossus, Guianacara, Ivanacara, Krobia, Laetacara, Mazarunia, Nannacara, Taeniacara, Tahuantinsyoa.
Geophagine: Acarichthys, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides, Biotodoma, Biotoecus, Geophagus, 'Geophagus', Gymnogeophagus, Microgeophagus, Satanoperca.
Other: Cichla, Crenicichla, Teleocichla.
I agree with the opening comments on Retroculus:
Retroculus: This one stumps me. In a newer paper, Kullander provided DNA evidence stating that this genus is a Cichlasomine, indeed much closer to Cichlasoma than to any Geophagine genera. Despite having the gill arch needed for inclusion for the Geophagines, as well as the Satanoperca like shape ... these are now believed to be a result of convergant evolution (different fish in similiar type areas devoloping similiar evolutions) versus direct evolution (descended from eartheaters).
A Comment
I've gotten a question on the length of my notatus:
The tanins give off a more natural feel. How large is your Heros notatus?
The H. notatus actually isn't visible for the entire video... I'll upload a video of him later. I'd say a good 5 inches of pure body length and 6 or 7 with finnage included. Slightly larger than my efasciatus.
According to Fish Base this is about the top length for the species.
A Look at my 200
Current inhabitants:
1 Astronotus ocellatus
1 Uaru amphiacanthoides
1 Heros efasciatus
1 Heros notatus
2 Cichlasoma sp. 'Guyana' (1 who may actually be something else despite the protestations of the store I bought him from - beautiful anyway. My guess is some species of Aequidens)
9 Unknown - possibly an Astatheros variety
3 Acarichthys heckelii (temporary residents)
1 'Geophagus' steindachneri (temporary resident)
Music: I'm playing the piano for this while my sister took the video. It is a bastardized excerpt from the song Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum from Gregor Mendel's "Children's Corner."
Update. Further Visual Comparison.
G. sp. 'Tapajos Red Head'
I thought I'd come back and correct myself... Apparently, according to the information here, the fish I presented in the previous post was Geophagus sp. 'Araguaia Red Head'.
When given the choice between the three species I would probably pick G. camopiensis because of its understated beauty. Also, it isn't as large a species and can readily be kept in smaller tanks. A close second would be the Tapajos variety.
Photo credit goes to Schmuck and Fella as well as Eartheaters Australia
A Comparison
G. camopiensis
When looking at the two species simultaneously my eyes are drawn to the camopiensis simply because it looks like it's blushing. A simple Valentine present. The Tapajos is very, very beautiful in its own right, but when presented next to understated beauty looks gaudy and ostentatious.
Photo credit goes to S. Bochenko
Beautiful Tank
Geophagus sp. 'Tapajos Red Head' is one of my favorite eartheaters. I prefer G. camopiensis though. Its more subtle coloring gives it a very beautiful delicate appearance.
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