Parrot Fish

It's hard to decide which of the colorful parrot fish's many unique characteristics is most remarkable.

There’s its diet, which consists primarily of algae extracted from chunks of coral ripped from a reef. The coral is pulverized with grinding teeth in the fishes’ throats in order to get to the algae-filled polyps inside. Much of the sand in the parrot fish's range is actually the ground-up, undigested coral they excrete.

There's its gender, which they can change repeatedly throughout their lives, and their coloration and patterns, which are a classification nightmare, varying greatly, even between the males, females, and juveniles of the same species.

Finally, there are the pajamas. Every night, certain species of parrot fish envelope themselves in a transparent cocoon made of mucous secreted from an organ on their head. Scientists think the cocoon masks their scent, making them harder for nocturnal predators, like moray eels, to find.

Close relatives of the wrasse, parrot fish are abundant in and around the tropical reefs of all the world’s oceans. There are about 80 identified species, ranging in size from less than 1 to 4 feet (30 to 120 centimeters) in length.

Their meat is rarely consumed in the United States, but is a delicacy in many other parts of the world. In Polynesia, it is served raw and was once considered "royal food," only eaten by the king.

article by : national Geographic

Flying Fish Profile

Flying fish can be seen jumping out of warm ocean waters worldwide. Their streamlined torpedo shape helps them gather enough underwater speed to break the surface, and their large, wing-like pectoral fins get them airborne.

Flying fish are thought to have evolved this remarkable gliding ability to escape predators, of which they have many. Their pursuers include mackerel, tuna, swordfish, marlin, and other larger fish. For their sustenance, flying fish feed on a variety of foods, including plankton.

There are about 40 known species of flying fish. Beyond their useful pectoral fins, all have unevenly forked tails, with the lower lobe longer than the upper lobe. Many species have enlarged pelvic fins as well and are known as four-winged flying fish.

The process of taking flight, or gliding, begins by gaining great velocity underwater, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) per hour. Angling upward, the four-winged flying fish breaks the surface and begins to taxi by rapidly beating its tail while it is still beneath the surface. It then takes to the air, sometimes reaching heights over 4 feet (1.2 meters) and gliding long distances, up to 655 feet (200 meters). Once it nears the surface again, it can flap its tail and taxi without fully returning to the water. Capable of continuing its flight in such a manner, flying fish have been recorded stretching out their flights with consecutive glides spanning distances up to 1,312 feet (400 meters).

Flying fish are attracted to light, like a number of sea creatures, and fishermen take advantage of this with substantial results. Canoes, filled with enough water to sustain fish, but not enough to allow them to propel themselves out, are affixed with a luring light at night to capture flying fish by the dozens. There is currently no protection status on these animals.

article by : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/flying-fish.html

Butterfly Fish

One of the most beautifully colored of all fishes, the butterfly fish is well known for it ability to gracefully move about the coral reef with an air of total indifference. Their tightly compress bodies display an array of various patterns and colors that have made them very popular for aquarium use. With close to 115 species of butterfly fishes they can be found in tropical waters among the reef in areas throughout the world but most often observed in the Indo-Pacific regions. They are small to medium fish from the Perciformes order and in the Chaetodontidae family. Of the ten genera in this family the Chaetodon genus contains the majority of the species. The mouth on the butter fly fish is small and protrudes, even extensively in some cases such as the long nose butterfly fish. They have many small teeth in both jaws and the round, flat body of the butterfly fish is, in most species, covered with contrasting colors. The main diet of the butterfly fish consist of algae, plankton, worms and small crustaceans but in many species this fish is considered an omnivore, which means it will eat almost anything that is available.

It is not uncommon to see certain species of the butterfly fish that have several distinct colors or shades of color on their bodies. Although shades of yellow are predominate in many of the species others are found with shades of orange, browns, blues, whites and silver. In most species the body is barred with lines running in various different patterns that give each species its distinction and some species have a single black spot either on the body or fins. This type of marking can be found on the Chaetodon auriga's fin, the body of the Chaetodon capistratus and Chelmon rostratus. One of the more interesting barred species is the Chaetondon vagabundus which has a distinct black bar that runs the width of its body right through the area of the eye. Some of the more colorful of the species might include the blue striped butterfly fish, the Chevron butterfly fish, the forcep fish, the Heni, the half yellow butterfly fish, the jack knife and the Hawaiian teardrop butterfly fish.

Racoon butterfly

Little is known about the mating and reproduction habits of the butterfly fishes although it is known that these fish swim about during the day light hours searching for food. At night they hide among the recesses found in the reef. Most species prefer to live singly or in pairs even though some species are known to live in small schools of no more than ten or twenty of their species. In some species such as the Chaetodon ephippium the eggs are contained inside the body of the female until spawning takes place. They are then released to float openly in the water until hatching. The young butterfly fish in most species are very different in coloration from the adults. In some species, such as the Holacanthus tricolor, the bodies are one solid color with few markings while in others, such as the emperor angelfish, the juveniles are blue with white markings. Aquarium enthusiast throughout the world find the butterfly fish one of the most colorful and beautiful additions to their tanks but it is interesting to note that some species that are equal in size are known to fight with each other. Properly cared for the butterfly fish can survive for many years in an aquarium environment but because they are very sensitive fish, should not be expected to spawn while in captivity.
article by : http://www.essortment.com/all/butterflyfishp_rzqh.htm

Dolphins: The most exciting sea creature

Dolphins are the most attractive sea creatures. When we are alone traveling through ship in the midst of ocean, they are always there running ahead of our ship as if trying to tell they can swim faster than our ship.
Dolphins are not fish, they are mammals. They are warm blooded like man and give birth to one baby called a calf at a time. At birth a bottlenose dolphin calf is about 90-130 cm long and grows to approx. 4 mts. They live up to 40 years. They are highly sociable animals. They are always found in group playing with each other and communicating with each other, thereby producing lovely sound.

Dolphins use their powerful tail flukes in an up and down fashion to move through the water. They also use their tail while hunting, hitting a fleeing fish up into the air, stunning it, and then scooping the fish up when it falls back into the water. They slap their tail rapidly when they get annoyed or when they want to indicate the sign of danger to alert other dolphins. Their teeth are interlocking rows of conical pegs, suitable for holding slippery fish. They eat their fish whole starting with head first. When they go wild they keep their mouth open and sometimes keep their nodding to express their aggression. Greater aggression is shown by violent jaw clapping. Dolphins breathe through their blowhole located at the top of their head. A dolphin may empty and refill its lungs in less than a fifth of a second. As the dolphin breathes, the air leaves the blowhole at speeds of over 100mph. Complex nerve endings around the blowhole sense pressure changes so the dolphin knows exactly when the blowhole is in or nearing the air and can be opened.

The dolphin's eyes produce a special slippery secretion which protects the eyes from foreign objects and water friction. While sleeping, it shuts down only half of its brain, as its breathing is under voluntary control. Dolphins take short cat-naps, floating just below the surface, and then slowly rising to breathe. Often dolphins are very active during night time, for some this is their main feeding time. The dolphin's skin is completely smooth allowing the dolphin to move easily through the water, and also reduce heat loss. Their skin may bear rake marks from other dolphin’s teeth during play or mating, and can easily become badly sun burnt if they strand. Their bodies are very streamlined so they may swim at high speeds through the water, and an example of this is their ears. Dolphin's ears are barely noticeable marked only by a small hole just behind the eye. In a bottlenose dolphin the ear is about 5-6 cms behind the eye and only 2-3 mm in diameter.


Dolphins are able to dive to great depths, and also leap to great heights. They may leap to avoid predators or to show how powerful they are to females at mating time. Bottlenose dolphins can dive to depths of over 1,640 ft (500m). Dolphins carry their young inside their womb and gestation is about 12 months for a bottlenose. The baby emerges tail first, and will suckle from its mother for up to 4 years. The baby will however stay with its mother for between 3-6 years, during which time it learns all about feeding techniques, social interaction and group foraging. Females stay within the family pod with their mother and sisters, though males leave and form associations with other males. They interact with dolphins from other pods from time to time. If any dolphin is drowning, other dolphins will come to its help, supporting it with their bodies so its blowhole is above the water allowing it to breathe.

Dolphin’s are mainly hunt down by sharks and unfortunately man, through direct killing for food, netting, pollution, and fishing. Dolphins spend a large part of their day looking for food, or actually feeding. They may either hunt alone or together as a pod. They use their echolocation to locate fish by sending out a stream of pulses and clicks. When a baby is first born, some dolphin research suggests a mother dolphin will whistle to it constantly, imprinting her sound on the baby so it will recognize her, and the baby learns to develop its own signature whistle. It is thought that each dolphin has its own individual signature whistle, just like a name.

The awareness of saving it from getting extinct is now being recognized and suitable actions are being taken. Australia and several other countries it is now illegal to catch or import any more dolphins for captivity. Dolphins are gifted with power that makes us enthusiastic about them. They must be allowed to leave their life without human interruption.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-25-2004-57066.asp

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