The most endearing video I’ve ever seen—a large, drowsy hippo receiving underwater cuddles from a school of small, multicolored fish—is the reason the earth has just melted.
Living it up in style, the third-largest land mammal in the world—behind white rhinos and elephants—is subtly smiling at us.
Images and videos posted online show an African cichlid fish “doing their job” while a hippo relaxes peacefully beneath the water’s surface. Typically found in rivers and lakes in South and Central America, Africa, and India, this family of fish is incredibly diverse and species rich.
Image Credit & More Info; timothythehippo/Instagram | facebook
Hippos and various fish species make wonderful pets, as has long been recognized. The fish that clean the hippos get their food from the parasites, dead skin, and algae that are shed from the hosts’ hides. Interestingly, some fish species are better at cleaning particular areas of a hippos’ body than others. The labeo, a kind of carp, are the primary cleaners; they scrape the hippo’s hide with their broad, rasping jaws. Barbus clean the crevices on the bottoms of the animal’s feet and subsist on manure. Little cichlids nibble on the bristles surrounding the tail, while little garra tend to wounds. In order to make room for the small marine cleaners, hippos will even spread their toes.
Hippos are among the most violent and dangerous animals, despite their adorable look. Their canines can grow up to twenty inches (51 cm) in length, and their incisors and canines both grow continually. Hippos are frightened and easily irritated. Disputes can easily escalate into full-blown brawls when one person steps on another’s toes or when anything as insignificant as a bird’s landing on a hippo triggers the animal’s alarm response.
In the animal kingdom, you’ll find the pygmy hippopotamus and the common hippopotamus. Both animals are native to Africa and belong to the hippocampal family of mammals. Their extremely delicate skin makes them primarily nocturnal creatures. Unlike several other animals, hippos do not have sweat glands under their skin to expel excess heat (including humans).
