Guys Roll Eyes: Fish show some eyeball to their rivals

Male fish in the Colorado River roll their eyes to flash a novel “Back off, punk” signal at other males, researchers say.

FISH-EYE VIEWS. A male razorback sucker barely shows up in river murk (top, arrow) until he rolls his eyes (bottom, white spots below white arrow) at an intruder (dark arrow). Mueller

The razorback suckers’ gesture—dipping the eyeball to expose its upper third—ranks as the first documented eye roll among territorial signals, says vision specialist Inigo Novales Flamarique of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.