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The Majestic Opah Is The World's First Truly Warm Blooded Fish!
大月鱼成为世界上首例温血鱼类
The Opah is a striking fish species that can grow as large as 7-feet in diameter and weigh over 100 pounds. Also referred to as moonfish, the giants that can be found in both temperate and tropical seas reside at depths of 150 to 1,300-feet where the waters can be extremely chilly. Scientists have often wondered how the fish can withstand the temperatures given that they lack typical deep sea dweller characteristics like a large heart. Now thanks to some curious California researchers that mystery has finally been solved - The Opah has warm-blood!
月鱼是一种大型鱼类，它直径能长到7英尺，重达100多磅。在温带和热带水下150-1300英尺深度的极寒海域中都可看到它的身影。科学家常对月鱼如何能承受这样的温度感到奇怪，因为它的心脏并不像其他深海生物那样大。现在，好奇的加利福尼亚研究者终于解开了这个谜题——月鱼是温血鱼类！
The chain of events leading to the discovery was accidental. It all began in 2012 when Southwest Fisheries Science Center researchers Owyn Snodgrass and Heidi Dewar caught a few more Opah specimens than normal during a research trip off the Southern California coast. Since very little was known about the elusive fish, the scientists decided to take advantage of the unexpected catch and sent some tissue samples to their colleague Nicholas Wegner for dissection.
发现这个结果纯属偶然。在2012年，西南水产科学研究中心的研究员Owyn Snodgrass和Heidi Dewar在去南加利福尼亚海岸做调查的路途中，碰巧多抓了些月鱼标本。由于对月鱼的奥秘了解甚少，他们决定充分利用这次意外的捕获，送了一些组织标本给他们的同事Nicholas Wegner做解剖。
While the researchers had expected to learn some intriguing facts about the fish's lifestyle, they had not anticipated anything earth shattering. Even Wegner, who specializes in the respiratory adaptations of fast-swimming fish, later admitted that he had always thought the Opah was just another sluggish cold-blooded deep-water species.
研究者们本来是期待对月鱼的生活方式多了解一些，从没想过能有如此惊人的发现。专注于游动飞快的鱼类的呼吸适应研究的Wegner后来也承认，自己一直以为月鱼只是迟钝的冷血深水鱼类。
So you can imagine everyone's surprise when Wegner discovered that the opah's gill tissue is webbed with red and blue blood vessels or "rete mirabile." These surprising findings have resulted in a new respect for this fish. According to Wegner, "All indications are that this is a very fast fish and an active predator . . . Specialized for living deeper than those other predators." This shows how much we still have left to learn about the amazing marine animals that reside in our oceans.
所以，你可以想象当Wegner发现月鱼腮部组织遍布红色和蓝色的血管时，人们有多么惊讶。这个惊人的发现也使人们对月鱼产生了新的敬畏。Wegner表示，“月鱼游动飞快，善于捕食，比其他捕食者生活的水域更深，这些都印证了这个结果。”调查结果也说明了神奇的海洋生物身上仍然有太多奥秘值得我们探究。
译文属可可英语原创，仅供学习和交流使用，未经许可，请勿转载。
