Amazing and most interesting, unusual fish facts, fish extremes, fascinating fish facts, extraordinary information about marine species
We gladly offer a variety of interesting, even amaizing fish factors to make your buying experience pleasant, full of enjoyment. We appreciate your time and hope to see you with us more often and to bring more happy hours into your everyday life. You can discover some interesting, some even amazing information you might not have known about fish and other sea life.
Fish are cold-blooded, aquatic animals that have scales, gills and fins. They were the first backboned animals to evolve and are today the most diverse of all vertebrate groups. The earliest known fish were the ostracoderms, a now-extinct group of jawless fish that appeared in the Cambrian Period, about 510 million years ago. Fish include animals such as sharks, skates, rays, chimera, paddlefish, herrings, lanternfish, sea dragons, cavefish, spoonfish, pipefish, seahorses, sturgeons, coelacanths and lungfish.
There are around 28,000 identified species of fish on the earth, there may still be over 15,000 fish species that have not yet been identified. There are more species of fish than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined. 40% of all fish species inhabit fresh water, yet less than .01% of the earth's water is fresh water.
Some people like to keep pet fish, others prefer to go out and spend the day catching fish. Some people are really careful about what they eat, others just don't care and stuff themselves with all kinds of junk foods. But there's another type of people, those that gamble with their lives for a rush of adrenalin or for a taste they find irresistible.
The oldest fish that scientists have identified date from 425 million years ago, even before the dinosaurs started to roam around. It was jawless underwater creatures, with armorlike plates covering the body.
The largest predator of the prehistoric period, in the late Devonian period, about 380-360 million years ago, was dunkleostey. The average length of individuals of this species was 8-10 meters, and weight in excess of 3 tons. The entire head and a significant part of the body of the fish was covered with a dense shell, which was impossible to bite. Dunkleosteus has incredibly powerful jaws which could generate a bite force up to 8000 lbs per square inch. A crocodile has a bite force of about 3700 lbs per square inch. At that time Dunkleosteus was at the top of the food chain and had no competitors.
The shortest lived vertebrate fish is the Pygmy Goby, Eviota sigillata, small coral reef-dwelling fish, 1 to 2 cm long, which lives for at most 59 days. With a reproductive life span of just 25 days, the female Pygmy Goby lays only 3 clutches of around 136 eggs in a lifetime - about 400 eggs in total. They hatch from minute eggs which are vigorously defended by the male. They then develop as ocean larvae for 3 weeks, nearly half of their lifetime, before settling on a coral reef where they grow to sexual maturity.
The Gastrotrich is marine or fresh water micro organisms, with a maximum size of just 3 mm. There are many different types, but all live incredibly short lives. Their lives are uneventful too, spent floating among the sediment in their watery home, occasionally attaching themselves to a surface for a while, before loosening themselves once more to drift on the currents, eating, and little else. These little creatures typically have a lifespan of on average, only 3 days.
The longest life span fish is Rougheye Rockfish, Sebastes Aleutianus, the 205 years old, found offshore in the North Pacific. The longest living commercial fish may be the Orange Roughy, with a maximum reported age of 149 years. Koi is one of the longest-live freshwater fish, Japanese varieties of common carp, have reportedly lived up to over 200 years. The oldest living koi was Hanako, it died at an age of 226 years in 1977.
Arctica islandica clam, also known as an ocean quahog, is the longest-lived animal species, a creature of the Icelandic Cyprine Arctica islandica, a mollusk, was found to have lived 405 years and possibly up to 410 years. Animals with some of the longest lives are the Marion's tortoise (152 years), the fin whale (116 years) and the deep-sea clam (100 years).
The world's largest fish is the Great Whale Shark or Rhincodon typus which grows to more than 65' (15 metres) in length, 23 feet of a girth, and 10 tons, 47,300 pounds in weight, is larger than the average school bus! However larger individuals as long as 59 feet have been reported. Whale sharks also lay the largest eggs of any animal, measuring 14 inches long. Whale sharks get their name from their size and not their diet. With their tiny 3000 teeth they are omnivores that feed by swimming with their wide mouths open, collecting plankton, small fish and anything what are around. After draining out the water out of their gills what is left is the dinner.
The smallest fish in the world is Paedocypris Progenetica, in the family Cyprinidae (which also includes carps and minnows), is skinny and transparent, found in Indonesian island of Sumatra and in the Malaysian part of Borneo, that came to just 7.9 millimetres from nose to tail.
The second smallest is a marine fish of the western Pacific called the Dwarf Pygmy Goby (Trimmatom nanus), found in the Philippine Islands, which comes in at 8 millimetres fully grown.
The world's largest sea turtle is Leatherback, it can grow over 3 meters (10 ft) and can weigh more than 2,000 pounds. Leatherback turtles are one of the deepest diving marine animals, they are diving to depths as great as 1,280 meters (4,199 ft) and they are also the fastest-moving reptiles with speed more than 35 kph (22 mph).
The world's largest, heaviest, biggest, and loudest animal to have ever existed on Earth, now or even in the prehistoric past, is the blue whale. It weighs 50 tons at birth. Fully grown it is 100 feet long and weights 150 tons. This is as much as 23 Elephants, 230 Cows or 1800 men. The largest blue whale on record is a stunning 200 tons.
The world's largest and the heaviest living bony fish is ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or Common Mola, a member of the order Tetraodontiformes. It can weigh up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb), and have been recorded at a length of nearly 12 ft (3.6 m), a height of 15 ft (4.5 m) from fin to fin and a weight of about 2,300 kg (5,000 lb). Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended. A female sunfish produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate, it may lay 300,000,000 eggs at a single spawning.
The world's largest ever known bony fish existed prehistorically, have been Leedsichthys, a giant pachycormid (an extinct group of Mesozoic bony fish) that lived in the oceans of the Middle Jurassic period, 165-155 million years ago. Estimates of the size of this fish range from 30 ft (9 m) to 100 ft (30 m), but a maximum size of 53 ft (16 m) seems most realistic. It would have taken 21-25 years to reach these lengths. Leedsichthys had over 40,000 teeth which were used to sieve small animals and plankton from the water through the giant mesh-plates at the back of its mouth, its feeding habits were similar to the modern blue whale.
The world's largest known freshwater fish is Kaluga or Great Siberian Sturgeon has been recorded at 2200 lb (1000 kg), being as large as most great white sharks. The largest species of Sturgeons (Acipenseriformes) and the largest European fish entered fresh water is the huge Beluga Sturgeon (Huso huso), native to the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The maximum recorded length of this endangered species is nearly 26 ft (7.9 m) and weight 4,565 lb (2,075 kg). This slow-growing and late-maturing fish that can live for 118 years.
The most expensive caviar, Almas caviar, is pearly white in appearance and comes from the a 100+ year old Beluga Sturgeon. The lighter the color of Beluga caviar the older the fish is, the more expensive the caviar is. 1 kg of Almas caviar in a 24-karat gold tin cost 16,000 Euro, or about $25,000. The sturgeons were around in the early Jurassic period and still it is one of the main sources of caviar wich processed from its ovary before the fish can spawn.
The longest alive bony fish on earth is Oarfish, the king of herrings (Regalecus glesne), the large, greatly elongated, pelagic Lampriform fishes comprising the small but fascinating family Regalecidae.
Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, this fish averages over 20 ft (6 m) long and can weigh 605 lb (275 kg). One fish was 37.3 ft (11.3 m) long, but there is a possibility that the Oarfish reaches 56 ft (17 m). Slender and compressed fish with long, slim, shiny silver bodies, with bright crimson long fins, often with a large red plume on the head, and not very long tail fin.
Very interesting fact that Oarfish hold themselves straight up and down in the water.
Very interesting fact that Oarfish hold themselves straight up and down in the water.
The largest living bivalve mollusk is the clam Tridacna, also known as Giant Clam, native to the Indo-Pacific. It can reach a length of over 4 feet (120 cm) and may weigh over 500 pounds, and have an average lifespan in the wild of more than 100 years. Giant clams are hermaphrodites - producing both eggs and sperm, this why they reproduce sexually via broadcast spawning ( release sperm and eggs into the water). They begin their adult life as a permanently sessile clam. Clam Tridacna are the only giant clams unable to close their shells completely once fully grown. Even when it disturbed and shell valves are closed, part of the mantle is visible.
The largest crab species in the world is a Varanger king crab (Paralithodes Camtschaticus), also known as Red king crab, weighing around 33 lbs (15kg), and measuring up to 5 feet (2 meters) across shell and claws, tip to tip. Also Red King crab is one of the most prized crab species in the world.
The giant squid is the largest creature without a backbone. It grows up to 60 feet across and weighs up to 5,000 pounds. Giant squid also have the largest eyes in the world. Their eyes are 16 times wider than human eyes, or 18 inches across in diameter. A squid has two hearts, a brachial heart that pumps blood through the gills, and a systemic heart that receives blood from the gills and pumps it to the rest of the body. It's beak-like mouth strong enough to cut through steel cable. One pair of five pairs arms thinner and longer than the rest, are used to catch food and bring it to the mouth.
Octopuses have 3 hearts and don't have hearing organs but have acute vision and they can detect colors. Octopuses are also able to "walk" on their arms. The largest octopus in the world is the Pacific giant octopus. It is only about the size of a pea when it is born, by the time it is 2 years old it grows up to 30 feet across and weighs 150 pounds. When an octopus gets angry, it shoots a stream of black "ink".
The fastest fish are Sailfish and Wahoo can exceed speed 90 kph, Tuna, Marlin, Swordfish and Mackerel swim with speed 50 kph, while the average fish have maximum speed of 20 kph.
There are about 40 known species of the flying fish, which have developed thin wing-like pectoral fins that allow species to jump and glide in a way that it seems like they are flying, but in fact they are not. Flying fish actually glide on wind currents above the surface of the water, sometimes up to 20 feet above the surface. They are capable of continuing their flights with consecutive glides spanning distances up to 1,312 feet (400 meters). Also the flying fish are attracted to light. The largest member of Flying-fish is the Agujon needlefish (Tylosurus acus), a slender fish at up to 5 ft (1.5 m) and a weight of 8.2 lb (3.7 kg).
The most poisonous fish in the world is the Stonefish, a master of camouflage, which lives off the coast of Australia on the sea bottom and around coral reefs, and hides among rocks. It has 13 spikes on its back, all filled with extremely potent, protein-based venomous toxin, that causes severe pain, paralysis, and tissue death during few hours.
Even the stonefish are most poisonous it use their poison mostly as a defence mechanism against predators. They usualy swim slowly or hide, wait for their prey to appear and then swim fast with very high speed and quickly attack, which can last as little as 0.015 seconds! The stonefish is a very expensive sashimi called okoze in Japan. Not every chef can prepare Okoze sashimi well kmown as "Deliciously Dangerous".
One of the deadliest sea-creatures on earth is the Box Jellyfish or Sea Wasp, often referred to as the Box of Death, are found in the waters around Australia.It has up to 60 tentacles up 5 meters long and have 5,000 million stinging cells. It's enough for a full grown adult to come in contact with just 3 tentacles to risk death. They have translucent bodies and this why they are extremely hard to see. Box Jellyfish are very fragile organisms, even a small fish could tear through it like butter, so it needs to kill aggressors and its food at first contact. People die from the shock the pain causes, there is no chance of surviving their poisonous sting, unless treated immediately.
One of the world's deadliest sea-creatures are little beautiful looking Marbled Cone snails, a marine gastropod mollusks, about medium to large in size, are found around reefs, where there is plenty of fish and other snails to feed on. They are spread in warm salt water environment over Australia, Caribbean, Pacific, Red Sea, and along the coast of Florida. They are also known as "cigarette snail", which means that a person stung by a cone snail has only time to smoke a cigarette before dying. Even a drop of marbled cone snail's venom, which cause intense pain, tingling, numbness and swelling, is so powerful that it can kill more than 20 people. They can shoot out a toxic harpoon and reels in its prey in any direction, even backwards. The venom paralyzes its victim, which allows the snail to feast at its leisure. There is no antivenom.
The second most poisonous vertebrate on earth (after the golden dart Frog) is a Puffer Fish. Fish contain a toxin, high levels of tetrodotoxin, that is deadly to humans. This tetrodotoxin is 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. Less than 0.1 g (0.004 oz) of this toxin is enough to kill an adult in as little as 20 minutes. There is enough toxin in one Puffer fish to kill 30 people and there's no known antidote. The average time from consumption to death is 4 - 6 hours.
Puffer's powerful poisoning causes deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, and muscle paralyzes, eventually killing the victim through asphyxiation. If eaten it will firstly numb your lips and mouth and slowly kill nerve tissue until your muscles become paralyzed and breathing stops. The puffer fish can puff up to double its size by swallowing air or water, when threatened.
One of the deadliest most venomous animals in the world is the Blue Ring Octopus, despite its small size, it carries enough poison in its body to kill over 26 people within minutes. The venom causes paralyzis and respiratory failure. There's no known antidote and cure.
The world's most popular toxic delicacy, the Puffer fish contain a toxin, high levels of tetrodotoxin, that is deadly to humans, a powerful poison that paralyzes the muscles, eventually killing the victim through asphyxiation. These fish are considered a delicacy in Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok-uh) despite the fact one bad cut means certain death. The poison is present mostly in the liver, ovaries, eggs, blood, liver, intestines and skin and only well-trained and licensed chefs are allowed to cook this dangerous meal.
Fugu is as popular as ever. The most poisonous fugu, "Tora-fugu," is the most delicious and very expensive, it can cost over $100 at a fish market and more than $200 as a dish. There is an old expression "I want to eat fugu, but I don't want to die" in Japan should be combined with old Japanese tradition that was in medieval times, the chef had to share the client's fate if he didn't remove the poison correctly.
One of earth's simpler and more primitive life forms ia a jellyfish, their bodies are made up of 95% water, they have no heart, bones or brain and no real eyes. A jellyfish neither posess blood nor a nervous system. Nerve cells help them move and react to food or danger. Body of a jelly fish lack a skeletal structure or the outer shell. Mouth of a jellyfish is located on the underside of its bell and that is the only opening for its digestive system. They take food in through its mouth which is digested in a sack-like structure. Then they pass their waste out through their mouths.
The Largest Jellyfish in the World is giant Lion's Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), frequently grow over 6 ft 7 in (2 m) in bell diameter and 120 feet (36.5 m) for their tentacle length. Tentacles are extremely sticky and grouped into 8 clusters. Each clusters could average 100 tentacles arranged in rows. Lion's mane jellyfish mainly depend on ocean currents to direct their movement. This giant Jellyfish reach their full size at the end of each summer where the currents drive them ashore. They are coldwater species and can't usually adapt to warmer waters.
Jellyfish Lake, or Ongeim'l Tketau, located on Mecherchar Island, in the Palau Archipelago, east of the Philippines, is one of the most filled with an infinite number of jellyfish. Over 35 million years ago, jellyfish were trapped in this lake after a submerged reef rose from the sea, creating a landlocked saltwater lake. Tiny invisible holes which speckle the rocks that surround the lake let water from the sea seep into the lake. Millions of jellyfish migrate horizontally across the lake daily.
The golden jellyfish, Mastigias cf. papua etpisoni, and moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, in the lake have evolved to be substantially different from their close relatives living in the nearby lagoons. The jellyfish in that lake have adapted to the new conditions by losing their sting, they have eight primitive eyes and algae that live within their cells.
The Starfish is one of the only animals who can turn it's stomach inside-out, their stomach exits their mouth to digest the food, and reenters the body when they're done eating. They have two stomachs but don't have a brain and don't have blood. The starfish have 5 to 8 microscopic eyes at the end of each arm-leg; this enables the starfish to view movement and differentiate between light and dark. Starfish can have 16, even 20 arms. In case a starfish loses its arm, it is capable of regenerating the same arm back. If a starfish is cut into chunks, each piece will grow into a completely whole starfish.
Most starfish have a spiky surface as a means of protection. The crown-of-thorns starfish is known for its thorny spines that are present all over the body. Starfish use filtered sea water to pump nutrients through their nervous system. The average lifespan of a sea star is 35 years, and some can weigh up to 11 pounds. A Starfish in not a fish, they're actually related to sand dollars and sea urchins.
The seahorse is the only animal with its head at a right angle to its body. They swim upright and avoid predators by camouflage the color of the plants. Seahorses propel themselves by using a small fin on their back that flutters up to 35 times per second. They can rise or settle to another depth by changing air volume within the bladder. It is the slowest fish on the planet. Of the 40 species of seahorses, the slowest (Dwarf Seahorse) zips along at 0.001 miles per hour. It would take about one hour to travel five feet. The seahorse is like a bunch of animals all rolled into one. It has a head like a horse, a long mouth like an anteater, eyes like a lizard that can move independently of each other, and a hard exoskeleton like an insect. All this is holding by a long, flexible tail. Seahorses have no teeth and no stomach. Food passes through their digestive systems so quickly, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive.
Sea horses are best known for their roles as father, as one of the only species of animal where the male becomes pregnant and gives birth. Female Sea horses insert their eggs into the male's pouch where they are fertilized and held until they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water, from 5 to as many as 1,500 young babies. Unfortunately, only about 5 out of every 1000 survive to adulthood. When the fry are ready to be born, the male expels them with muscular contractions. He usualy gives birth at night, do not nurture their young after birth, and is ready to get the next batch of eggs into his pouch by the morning when his mate returns back.
The Spotted Climbing Perch, also called Climbing Gourami and Walking Fish, a freshwater fish that can leave its waterhole when it dried up and walk on land to another waterhole. The fish cannot derive enough oxygen from water because it has very small gills and generally lives in oxygen-poor water, this why it comes out of the water to breathe air for hours at a time. It is able to absorb oxygen from the air and will crawl overland using its strong pectoral fins.
Lungfish, a slender-bodied and almost scaleless fish that breathes with a lung as well as by gills. The Lungfish can live out of water for as long as 4 years. The African and South American lungfishes use their lungs to breathe air out of water by using a lunglike organ called a swim bladder. They are one of a few bony fish that are able to control their fins as land animals control their limbs, they have joints that attach the fins to their body just as arms and legs are attached to a person's body.
Parrotfish at night secrete and then sleep inside a mucous cocoon. This cocoon protects it from parastes and snails, also helps it warn about the presence of predators and adds a horrible taste and smell to the parrot fish thus keeping the predators at a safe distance. Also Parrotfish Bites off chunks of coral, which are ground up and expelled, after passing through the gut, as a cloud of chalk dust.
Catfish are paternal mouthbrooders. A father sea catfish holds his unborn eggs in his mouth until the hatch. Bangaii Cardinal male hold both eggs and babies in his mouth until the young are ready to go on their own. African Cichlid female carries her fertilized eggs in her mouth. This process is known as "mouth brooding".
Although it takes several weeks, the fish will not eat until the eggs hatch. There are several non-functioning eggs within the brood that attach to the larger, called viable eggs. These non-functioning eggs are used as food for the male mouthbrooder, who can choose to carry the young after they have hatched until they are larger and capable of surviving on their own.
Salmon commonly migrate upstream to spawn. Most spawning salmon return to the precise stream of their birth, sometimes overcoming great distances and hazardous river conditions to reach home. The largest Atlantic Salmon have been reported weights 100 pounds, the largest of the Pacific species and the largest species of salmon, Chinook, was 135 pounds (61.4 kg) and 5 ft (1.5 m) long. The largest salmonid in the world is Taimen. The maximum size is not well known, the largest fish have been reported was caught in the Kotui River in Russia with a length of 83in (210cm) and a weight of 231lb (105kg). The Chinook Salmon generally produces the most and largest eggs. All the Pacific salmon die shortly after spawning. The Atlantic Salmon have high post spawning mortality but are capable of surviving and spawning again.
Pacific salmon are represented by 7 different species. Five species that occur on both sides of the Pacific Ocean: Chinook (King) Salmon, Chum (Dog) Salmon, Coho (Silver) Salmon, Pink (Humpback) Salmon, Sockeye (Red) Salmon. Two species occur only in Asia: Masu Salmon (Yamame), and Amago Salmon (Biwamasu). kokanee Salmon is the landlocked subspecies of a Sockeye Salmon, it spends its entire life in fresh water and usually does not attain the size of its sea-migrating cousin.
Sharks have 8 unique senses: hearing, smell, lateral line, pit organs, vision, Lorenzini, touch, and taste. Sharks have great hearing. Sound, rather than sight or smell (even blood), seems to be a shark's primary cue to attract sharks for moving into an area from great distances. Sharks are able to see almost as well behind as they can see in front. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. Sharks have fantastic night vision and can see extremely well light colors from dark and may even be able to distinguish colors. Yellow, white, orange, and silver seem to attract sharks.
Sharks do not have bones. Their body is made out of cartilage, and are called Elasmobranchs, which translates into fish made of catilaginous tissues. This category also includes Rays, Sawfish, and Skates. However with the age, Sharks deposit calcium salts in their skeletal cartilage to strengthen it. These same minerals allow most Shark skeletal systems to fossilize. The teeth have enamel so they also fossilize. Sharks can go up to approximately 6 weeks without feeding, and the record was 15 months for a Swell Shark fasting. Swell sharks are able to swallow water and swell themselves up to appear larger in the eyes of predators, thus the name swell sharks. Sharks are not immune to cancer and other diseases.
Sharks do not have bones. Their body is made out of cartilage, and are called Elasmobranchs, which translates into fish made of catilaginous tissues. This category also includes Rays, Sawfish, and Skates. However with the age, Sharks deposit calcium salts in their skeletal cartilage to strengthen it. These same minerals allow most Shark skeletal systems to fossilize. The teeth have enamel so they also fossilize. Sharks can go up to approximately 6 weeks without feeding, and the record was 15 months for a Swell Shark fasting. Swell sharks are able to swallow water and swell themselves up to appear larger in the eyes of predators, thus the name swell sharks. Sharks are not immune to cancer and other diseases.
The smallest shark species is the dwarf shark which averages 4in in length. The Great White Shark is the largest predator with the record 37 feet long and over 24,000 pounds weight. Dogfish sharks are believed to have gotten their name after they were observed hunting in groups, similar to way a pack of wild dogs would. The Megamouth shark which is the rarest of the shark species, was discovered in 1976. Eggs of the Port Jacson sharks look like a corkscrew and they stick to rock crevices.
The most dangerous species in order of documented attack records are: the Great White Shark, Bull Shark, Tiger Shark, Grey Nurse Shark, Lemon Shark, Blue Shark, Sand Tiger, several species of Hammerheads, and the Mako. Some species such as the nurse shark are extremely sluggish and have poorly developed teeth, but even these have been known to attack man when excited or disturbed. While sharks are feared as being man killers, they only kill about 6 to 15 people a year, 40 times less then elephants (500 people a year).
Dolphin name origin from the old Greek (delphis), interpreted like 'fish with a womb'. The largest member of the dolphin family is called an orca or killer whale. Killer Whales are the only sea animal that outranks the Tiger Shark as top predator of the sea. Male orcas grow to about 25 feet in length and weigh about 19,000 pounds, and the orca can live up to 80. Bottlenose dolphins are the most common and well known type of dolphin, can live over 40 years.
Dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals of all, their larger brains is similar to humans. Dolphins communicate with each other by squeaking, growling, moaning, and whistling. They sleep with one eye open and one half of their brain sleep at a time. Dolphins have 2 stomachs, one is used for storage of food and the other one for digestion. The dolphins hear frequencies is 10 times higher than the humans. Their sense of touch is well-developed, but they have no sense of smell. Female dolphins are called cows, males are called bulls and young dolphins are called calves.
Dolphins are known as the only species that have sex for fun like humans. They have sex all year round, also display non-reproductive sexual behavior, engaging sometimes in the acts with two females, or in homosexual contact with other male dolphins. Dolphins are known in masturbation, wrapping a live wriggling eel around its penis, stimulation of the genital area of other individuals using the rostrum or flippers. Dolphin intercourse usually lasts for only 10 seconds but can be repeated several times within an hour. From time to time, the dolphins are also showing the sexual behaviour towards other animals, including even humans.
The electric eel has an average discharge of 400 volts, but an adult electric eel is capable of producing an electric shock about 650 volts (110 volt is standard U.S. wall socket). This is powerful enough to knock a horse off its feet. Voltage increase until the eel is about 3 feet long, after which only amperage increases. Still, it is not volts that kill, but amps. Some South American eels measure 10 feet in length.
The four-eyed fishes, Anableps, belong to family Anablepidae. They have only two eyes each, but the eyes raised above the top of the head and divided in two different parts, so that they can see below and above the water surface at the same time. It is also known for the ability to survive out of water exposed to air, such as during low tide. The fish floats at the water surface with only the lower half of each eye underwater.
Each half of the eye has a separate pupil, iris and cornea, but the retina is divided. The upper half of the eye is adapted for vision in air, the lower half for vision in water. The lens of the eye also changes in thickness top to bottom to account for the difference in the behavior of light in air and in water, with the underwater lens face more strongly curved. Both halves of the eye use the same lens, with the upper light path traveling through the short axis of the lens, while the lower light path travels through the long axis. The underwater half of the eye projects an image to the upper half of the retina, while the part of the eye above water projects to the lower retina.
Female Angler fish have a long filament anterior dorsal spine from the middle of the head above their mouths, and terminates in an irregular growth of luminous flesh at the tip of the spine. The spine is movable in all directions and it is similar to a fishing pole with a lure at the tip make it perfect for preys. This kind of predation of the fishes is considered as analogous to angling and thus the fish is called 'anglerfish'. Anglerfishes are the mini gangsters of the ocean who can swallow a prey bigger, almost double the size than them because of their flexible body structure. It is able to distend both its jaw and its stomach (its bones are thin and flexible) to enormous size. Some benthic (bottom-dwelling) forms have arm-like pectoral fins which the fish use to walk along the ocean floor, where it generally hides itself in the sand or amongst seaweed.
Some males of deep-sea anglerfish are significantly smaller than a female angler fish, and may have trouble finding food in the deep sea. The male ceratoid lives solely to find and mate with a female, but they do it by specific way by parasitize on females. The male bites or latches onto female with his sharp teeth into her skin, and then releases an enzyme that merges the skin of his mouth, lips and tongue and her body with her lips and tongue, digest it as well as the blood-vessel system. Rest of the body is slowly transformed, first losing his digestive organs, then his brain, heart, and eyes, and ends as nothing more than an appendage of the male generating sperm. When the female is ready to spawn, she has a mate immediately available. Up to three males can be parasitized into a single female at a time.
The crocodile icefish or white-blooded fish (Channichthyidae) are a family of perciform fish found in the cold waters around Antarctica and southern South America. Channichthyidae are the only known vertebrates without hemoglobin, an oxygen transport protein in the blood. Although they do not manufacture hemoglobin, remnants of hemoglobin genes can be found in their genome. Hemoglobin loss was probably not adaptive because icefish had to develop many more adaptations to compensate for the loss of the oxygen transporting protein. They increased their blood volume and heart size, and lowered their metabolic rates and their oxygen demand in tissues. Accordingly there is more blood is circulating through a body. It is curious, that white-blooded fish does not use gills for breathing, they got oxygen through the skin densely covered by capillaries. But the most surprising is the blood of these fishes does not freeze.
The coldest Temperature Living fish is Polar codfish, Boreogadus saida, also known as Arctic Cod, is comfortable at 2°C below zero. The Polar Cod is an extremely unique and hardy fish that can grow up to 30 cm in length. It survives best at temperatures of 0-4°C but may tolerate colder temperatures owing to the presence of antifreeze protein compounds in its blood. The polar cod is found further north than any other fish species.
Twice a year, in the Gulf of Mexico There is a huge migration of rays. About 10 thousand rays swim from the Yucatan peninsula to Florida in the spring and then in the fall they migrate back.
In the lake on the south of France has been caught one of the largest carps in the world. The huge fish in weight of 15 kg and with its orange scales reminds a gold fish from a fairy tale.
Back to top
'Living Fossils', previously believed to have gone extinct at the time when dinosaurs took over the world, over 300 million years ago.
The Coelacanth is the most famous of all living fossils that were supposed to be long extinct in the Cretaceous period, along with the dinosaurs and are unexpectedly found to be alive in South Africa in 1938 and in Indonesia in 1999. Coelacanths are large predators, up to 2 meters (6 foot 6inches) long; they feed on smaller fish, including small sharks, and are usually found in deep, dark waters.
The Polypterus Senegalus, is an African fish, often called "dinosaur eels", due to their reptilian appearance and serrated dorsal fin, reminiscent of some dinosaurs' spiked backs. They are members of the bichir family and not really eels. They can survive out of the water for long periods of time as long as their skin remains wet, which enables them escape far away from fish tanks where they often were hold as exotic pets.
Alligator Gar, Atractosteus spatula, is the largest of the gar, and the largest freshwater fish in North America, the oldest fish alive today, their origins can be traced back to the Cretaceous period. This thick scaled predator found in the southern US and northern and eastern Mexico, although it sometimes wanders into the sea. It can grow up to 4 meters (13ft) long and weigh up to 200 kg (440lbs). Gator gars are got their names because of their reptilian appearance and long jaws, armed with a double row of sharp teeth. They are voracious ambush predators and have been known to bite humans on occasion.
Sawfish, critically endangered animal, is a survivor from the Cretaceous period, and can be found both in saltwater or in rivers and creeks, and has been found up to 100 kms inland. Up to 7 meters (23ft) in length, sawfish may look like sharks but are actually more closely related to rays. Their "saw" is both a weapon and a sensory organ, covered on electro-sensitive pores which allow it to sense prey despite its terrible eyesight. Usually very peaceful, the sawfish can become extremely dangerous if provoked.
The Amazonian Arapaima, a close relative to the Arowana, is sometimes considered to be the largest freshwater fish in the world. It could grow up to 14ft 8in (4.5 meters) long, but today, enormous individuals like these are seldom found and most adult arapaimas average 6ft 6in (2 meters) long. These slow moving predators feed on smaller fish, crustaceans and whatever small animal they can fit in their mouth. An interesting fact that in order to survive, it needs to breath oxygen from the air, like a cetacean. Although the Arapaima seemingly appeared in the Miocene period, it belongs to a much older family, the Osteoglossidae, and therefore its origins can be traced back to the age of dinosaurs.
The sturgeon, one more survivor from the age of dinosaurs, in the early Jurassic period. This ancient fish has an elongated body shape and a flattened, slightly upturned snout, with the mouth located underneath. There are 5 rows of bony plates that run the length of the body, one along the back, one on each flank and two on the undersurface. The fleshy barbels in front of the mouth are hang from the underside of the snout, feathered at the ends. The body is predominantly dark grey or greenish whilst the belly tends to be white. The largest sturgeon species can grow up to 19ft 7in (6 meters) long and 1387 pounds (630 kg) weight, being as large as most great white sharks.
Frilled Shark is deep sea predator, a relic from the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, is one of the most primitive sharks alive today. Seldom seen alive, the frilled shark can grow up to 2 meters (6ft 6in) (with females being larger than males) and they live in deep waters, where they feed mostly on squid.
Arowana, is voracious predators, known as "dragon-fish" in China due to their appearance, is belonging to the ancient group of the Osteoglossids, already existed in the Jurassic period. Today, they are found in the Amazon, and in parts of Africa, Asia and Australia. Sometimes kept as exotic pets, arowanas are voracious predators that feed on any small animal they can catch. Arowanas are able to leap up to 2 meters (6ft 6in) into the air which helps them to feed on birds and bats which they catch in mid flight. They are thought to be harbingers of good luck.
The lancetfish has a very obvious "prehistoric" appearance, with those fierce-looking, sharp teeth on its jaws and the sail on its back, reminiscent of that of some dinosaurs (although, in the lancetfish the sail is actually an enlarged dorsal fin). Even its scientific name has a dinosaurian sound to it (Alepisaurus ferox). Up to two meters (6ft 6in) in length, this predator is found in all the oceans except for polar regions; very voracious, it feeds on smaller fish and squid, and has known to feed on members of its own species sometimes.
Hagfish have existed for over 300 million years, which means they were already old when dinosaurs took over the world. Found in relatively deep waters, these animals are sometimes called slime eels, but they are not really eels, and actually, they may not even be fish at all. They are very bizarre animals in all regards; they have a skull but lack a spine, and they have two brains. Almost blind, they feed at night on the carcasses of large animals (fish, cetaceans etc) which fall to the sea bottom. They owe their "slime eel" nickname to the fact that they produce a slimey substance to damage the gills of predatory fish; as a result, they have virtually no natural enemies.
Back to top
