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

Shark: The King Of Water World

They are one of the few individuals that survived themselves from being extinct. Many think that shark is cruel in nature but the fact is that there are only few out of 350 species of sharks that are considered dangerous: the great white shark, tiger shark, bull shark and oceanic white tip shark.

They can survive in all the weather conditions from cold to temperate waters. They are also found in water bodies with temperatures around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Almost all sharks are carnivores and eat seals, dolphins, sharks and other fish. They are classified into cold-blooded animals. This means that their bodies change temperature as the water temperature changes. Sharks have a body structure of sleek, streamlined design which supports them to swim without using up a lot of energy. This is very important because they don’t sleep and most of them continue their journey without sleeping.

God always provide every creature an ability to defend itself from enemies and so sharks have skin like the spiky suit of armor. Just as the teeth in their jaws are replaced after certain period of time and same as spiky teeth on their body are also changed. Throughout the life the sharks have supply of teeth. In a year an adult shark goes through 7 to 12 sets of teeth. In order to satisfy their needs different species of sharks have different types of teeth. Sharks do not make use of their teeth to chew. They gulp down things whole or in big pieces. The most common shape of teeth of sharks is plate-like triangular one.

They are provided with six senses which make them very well equipped to have their prey. The six senses which shark use very effectively for searching and hunting their prey are vision, vibration, hearing, smell, taste and electro-perception. A shark with its ampullae’s can sense vibrations in the water and will fly through the water straight to the source. Shark has very sensitive nostrils and can find its prey even of small size with great accuracy. They rest during the day time and go for their hunt at the evening and dark hours. As per survey in a zoological environment they eat about 1 % to 10% of its total body weight per week.

Mating of Sharks

The mating actions change as per their size. In smaller species the male curls around the female. In larger species the male arranges himself parallel and in line with the female. Males of many species during mating bite females on the pectoral fins or the middle of the back to hold onto them. Females often bear wound or marks after mating. A close look at these marks shows that they have been made by upper jaw teeth. In some blue shark female sharks, the skin on the back and flanks is double as compared to those of males. Fertilization of Shark and batoid eggs takes place within their body. For energy-intensive reproduction, internal fertilization is a key adaptation.

After the birth young sharks are fully formed and physically able to survive themselves. The number of sharks found in a group usually does not go beyond 100 since the sharks can survive on their own even when they are very young. Clasper is the name given for modified inner edges of the pelvic fins of male sharks. While mating, the straight claspers are bent forward. The male puts in one clasper at a time into the female. The muscles cause seminal fluid down a groove in the clasper and into the female oviduct.

At a time depending on its species, sharks have from 1 to 100 pups. Some sharks lay eggs while other give birth to live pups. Some sharks do not worry about their pups after they are born, although they will search out safe places, where they can lay eggs or give birth. Many pups swim near to shore to grow up on their own. They require 10 to 15 years to grow fully and have an average life span of 100 years.

More time humans spent in their world, the more trouble is cause to them. Human beings should not interfere in their world doing so causes harm to both. A shark is the creativity of God and we should respect their power.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-9-2004-57651.asp

by: : http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=949

A Wonderful Fishy World

Have you ever stopped to take a look at the world that a fish lives in? For us it’s such a dark and mysterious place but that is not all that captures us, it is the fact that the fish not only live but also thrive in such an environment. But how do they do it? How do they manage?

Well let’s see, shall we?

Everybody knows that fish have gills. The gills are what make it possible for the fish to breath under water, every gill is made up of curved arches of cartilage on this cartilage are little gill filaments which , to make a long story short, allow the water to pass next to tiny capillaries which absorb the oxygen. Everybody knows that, at least I hope everybody knows that, it is basic fish knowledge.

Something that maybe fewer people know is the fact that fish have a swim bladder; this is the organ that allows the fish to stay in one place without having to tread water as we do. The swim bladder does this by filling up with oxygen from the blood stream. How does it get the oxygen out of the blood stream? There is a little organ attached to the side, this is what collects the oxygen and inflates the swim bladder. Up until now you might say…boring, but did you know that it is because of the swim bladder that the fish can go to depths of up to seven thousand feet or more?

Every diver knows the fact that when you swim up and down in water that deep you have to pressurize or depressurize yourself (or you would either explode or implode); fish manage to do this with the swim bladder, by pressurizing the fish is able to go to depths that we can't even dream of, our little fishy has to take care though and not try to go about pressurizing and depressurizing too fast or he could seriously injure himself, even to the point of losing his life.

If we take an even closer look at fish and the way that they use their swim bladders, we would find that some fish don't only use it for going into the deep blue sea or to stay in one place, there are fish that use their swim bladder to make certain noises such as the catfish, other fish use their swim bladder to breath out of the water, like the lungfish and of course there are the fish that don't even have swim bladders, they found other ways to stay buoyant...I guess some fish just like to be different.

Talking about different, how many people do you know who can produce their own electricity, with their own body? There are many fish that can do just that, they have special organs that can either produce light or even electricity...this is usually used for predatory reasons but there are some fish that just want to be able to see in the dark.

It is usually the fish that can only be found in the depths of the sea that produce light, and it is a light so strong that it can pierce the thickest night, it can light up places that have not seen light for thousands of years, but like I said, most of those fish have dark intentions on their side because all they are trying to do is to attract a smaller fish so that they can have a good supper. The fish that produce electricity are the electric eel and the electric catfish, they also use their abilities for food. The biggest electric eel can output enough electricity to electrocute a grown man!

Fish are such amazing creatures, you know man thinks that he knows so much about everything, but I think that God is not willing to give up all of His secrets so soon. I believe that there is much more out there to see and to discover. Not just weird fish organs, if we were to stop and take a closer look at the world around us I think that we would be amazed at what we would find.

Yes, fish are amazing creatures!

by: Claudia Miclaus