bluegill know water quality

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Just read about how the Army has made a new water quality testing system available to the public. Sounds odd, but it's true (see link below). They have bluegill in a tank of water with a breathing rate monitoring device (detects bluegill breathing rate) and then pour in water to be tested. If the water contains contaminants (farm run-off pollutants) in sufficient amounts to require EPA attention, the bluegill's breathing rate increases and sets off an alarm! We always knew that fish and other spring/cave critters were the early detectors of polluntants, but now we have a way of using them to set off alarms!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2...g_problems.htm

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