Wrasse Confusion

Job 12:8,13
“… or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee…. With him [is] wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.”

There is a family of brightly colored fish called wrasse. God’s creativity in this particular family had biologists puzzled for a long time. Evolution could provide no explanation.
 
In the early days of marine biology, scientists often identified the male and female wrasse as totally different species. They don’t even look like they are related. Biologists noticed that they had a mystery on their hands when they discovered that they had ended up designating some species that had only males, and others that had only females. Eventually, observation cleared up the confusion – only to result in more confusion!

Scientists had found certain wrasse who looked neither like males nor females. Scientists also found that schools around some small reefs had no young males. It seemed as if the males just appeared, fully grown, without ever growing up. And in a way, they had. For among these wrasse, when there is a shortage of males, one of the females will turn into a fully functional male!

In Scripture, the word “understanding” often refers to a deep and detailed knowledge of how different things work together. The special and highly creative arrangements that God has provided for the wrasse are an excellent example of His understanding as well as the unlimited range of His imagination!

Prayer:
Father in heaven, I thank and praise You for Your great beauty and inspiring imagination that is so evident all around us in the creation. Through the instruction of Your Word, grant me the gift of understanding. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Moon wrasse, a typical wrasse. Courtesy of Leonard Low. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.