News Animals

This fish has legs — and it uses them for more than just walking

Sea robins’ legs are not only crablike, but also like tongues

A fish with large winglike fins protruding from its side and six crablike legs sits atop white sand with a black background

The legs of a northern sea robin are sensory organs that help the fish seek out crabs and other prey buried in sand along the seafloor, two studies show.

Anik Grearson

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

It’s a bird! It’s a crab! No, it’s a fish that can taste with its legs.

Some sea robins, a group of fishes with two winglike fins and six crablike legs, use their legs to dig in sand and find buried prey with a sense much like taste, researchers report in two papers published September 26 in Current Biology.