There’s an amazing fish called Sicyopterus stimpsoni, or the “Rockclimbing Goby”. It’s a Hawaiian small fish—about 1 inch in size—that uses its mouth as a suction cup to scale waterfalls of up to 30 meters.
The goby attempts this arduous climb to lay eggs at the top of the waterfall—it’s a place well protected from predators. However, only 1% of goby’s make it to the top, the rest perish in the climb. After the successful ones lay their eggs, and those eggs hatch, their offspring are carried out to see via the waterfall and river, and those fish repeat the journey 6 months later.
It’s one of the most stunning and stark examples of natural selection at work. Nature sometimes doesn’t feel fair, but it’s certainly amazing.