#Fish facts

[lilybug-02]

If you would like to talk about fish facts may I request a fun fish fact? :)

The Dwarf Seahorse has a hunting success over 90 percent!

It's head shape creates a “no wake zone” in the water, meaning they don't disturb water around them, allowing for the seahorse to successfully ambush its prey of choice, a type of plankton called the copepod. (This research was done here in Texas!)

Look at this little man. A proud hunter!

The dwarf seahorse is the third smallest seahorse species in the world. It is found in seagrass beds in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Coast of Florida, and the Caribbean.

Have a cool video of a seahorse hunting

[feelingautistic]

The smallest shark in the world is the dwarf lantern shark, reaching a maximum known length of 20cm.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

The Australian lungfish gets so many facts while three species get none! Here’s some additional info on the other species:

The West African lungfish can survive for three and a half years without any food while it aestivates.

South American lungfish males, while guarding their eggs and growing young, develop feather-like structures on their pelvic fins that take in carbon dioxide from the water and release oxygen into it. This helps their babies stay alive and healthy, as juvenile South American lungfish breathe using their gills only and hang out in a burrow which new water does not usually flow into very well.

Gilled lungfish have external gills which they keep into adulthood. They’re the smallest lungfish species at only 44 cm (17 inches) long.

Also very important, here’s Eemu the African lungfish of unknown species:

Round 2 - Chordata - Dipnoi

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Dipnoi is a class of Sarcopterygiian fish commonly called “lungfish”. While widely distributed since the Early Devonian, today only 6 species remain. They are the closest living relatives to tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, and mammals).

Like other Sarcopterygiians, lungfish have lobed, bony fins and a well-developed internal skeleton. True to their name, they have a highly specialized respiratory system which includes lungs, subdivided into numerous smaller air sacs. Most extant lungfish species have two lungs, with the exception of the Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri), which has only one. The Australian Lungfish can breathe through its gills without needing air from its lung, but in all other species the gills are too atrophied to allow for adequate gas exchange. Lungfish have unique dentition, bearing fan-shaped tooth plates called odontodes, which are used to crush hard shelled organisms. Some groups have ridges on these tooth plates that form occluding blades. They are omnivorous, feeding on fish, insects, crustaceans, worms, mollusks, amphibians, and plant matter. African and South American Lungfish are capable of surviving seasonal drying-out of their habitats by burrowing into mud and estivating throughout the dry season.

(own work)

Propaganda under the cut:

The Australian Lungfish has existed in Australia for at least 100 million years, making it a true living fossil and one of the oldest living vertebrate genera on the planet. It is the most primitive surviving member of the ancient Dipnoi lineages.

The Marbled Lungfish's (Protopterus aethiopicus) genome contains 133 billion base pairs, making it the largest known genome of any vertebrate. The only organisms known to have more base pairs are the amoeboid Polychaos dubium and the flowering plant Paris japonica at 670 billion (possibly) and 150 billion, respectively.

The Spotted Lungfish (Protopterus dolloi) can aestivate on land by surrounding itself in a layer of dried mucus.

An Australian Lungfish named “Granddad” at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago lived to be 109 years old, before he had to be euthanized due to an age-related decline in health. The current oldest Australian Lungfish is now “Methuselah”, who lives at the California Academy of Sciences, and is around 100 years old. Methuselah has been described as "mellow" by her keeper. She is also noted to like belly rubs, back rubs, and fresh figs.

Australian Lungfish are one of the cutest animals on the planet and I want a life-sized plushie/body pillow of one

[protectoursharks]

The shape of a fish's caudal tail can tell you a lot about how fast the fish moves! A rounded tail is the slowest and a lunate tail is the fastest! The lunate tail has the most optimal ratio of high thrust and low draw, making it the fastest.

Ichthyology Notes 2/?

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

While researching for upcoming fish facts I ended up going down a rabbit hole on parrotfish teeth, and I need to share this information in another form than just a fish fact. This stuff is unbelievable. You know the beak of the parrotfish, right? It's formed from the fused teeth of the parrotfish, as an adaptation to have ample biting surface to scrape off and chew on coral, their main food source.

A close-up of the beak of a parrotfish. It has this honeycomb pattern which I find very cool.

Well. To constantly chew on coral, they must have some pretty hard teeth, right? And they indeed do: the teeth of the parrotfish are made up of a mineral called fluorapatite, which forms intricate, chainmail-like woven structures on a microscopic level. Fluorapatite just so happens to be the second hardest biomineral found. This stuff, the parrotfish's teeth? A square inch of the parrotfish's teeth can withstand a whopping 530 TONS OF PRESSURE!!! That's the weight of 88 ELEPHANTS on top of a single square inch!!!! That's crazy, right!!?? The only biomineral that is tougher is the teeth of chitons, that is the single tougher biological thing in the whole world!!! Not only that, but the stiffness and hardness of the teeth increases the more we get closer to the tip (as the mineral fibers get closer and closer to one another), the very tips of the teeth even surpass the chiton teeth in stiffness!!!

Here are pictures produced through a process called PIC mapping, which shows the size and orientation of crystal fibers at the tip of the teeth.

That feels like it shouldn't be right, no? You'd think that the toughest biominerals in the world would belong to, like, the skull of an animal that rams into rocks or maybe the shell of some animal, not the teeth! The teeth of chitons and parrotfish out of all animals no less! Who would've guessed that the diet of "rock animal" would make the parrotfish require some of the toughest dentition the world has ever seen, huh? That right there is one super good reason why you should never stick your finger in the mouth of one.

Every day I am blown away by how amazing fishes are....

[the-briny-bulletin]

Cryptid fish that has only been seen once and never again that may or may not exist but well never know my beloved

[snailfish-enthusiast]

Cave fish time!!

Cryptotora thamicola or the waterfall climbing cave fish are extremely rare, found in only eight caves on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Like most cave fish they are blind and pigmentless but what makes them special is there ability to cling to walls and climb up flowing water.

[see-anemone]

this absolute icon

not only does she wear bright red lipstick she literally struts across the sea floor: red lipped batfish use their pectoral fins to 'walk' because they aren’t good swimmers.

[i-give-you-a-fish]

i would like to request your least edible fish

The only objectively correct answer is the Devil’s Hole Pupfish. Even if they look like gummy bears covered in sugar

These critically endangered little guys live only in one place that just so happens to be a National Monument. It’s under government protection as well as fenced off, constantly surveilled, and with decoy locations to throw off the scent.

So in the off-chance you do get to pop one of these suckers in your mouth… yeah, your days will be numbered.

But seriously, skim through the Conservation section of the wiki page this shit wild

You get a Devil’s Hole Pupfish

Cyprinodon diabolis

[respect-the-locals]

🐠 Daily Fish Fact: 🐠

Pinnate Batfish adults are normally solitary but will gather in large schools to move over open substrates. The juveniles are mimics of a toxic species of flatworm by colour and shape. They feed on algae as well as jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton. This species has been observed to significantly reduce algal growths on coral in studies simulating the effects of overfishing on the Great Barrier Reef.

[orca-in-disguise]

Critter fact #87:

Moray eels have two sets of jaws! When the jaws open wide and there's more jaws inside, that's a moray!

[lilybug-02]

i wanna hear about the fish :3

Bichirs are a type of fish that can breathe air! They have a pair of lungs and gills. They are native to the diverse freshwater ecosystems of Africa, with muddy or swampy conditions.

The Senegal bichir fish is known for it's ability to "walk" on land too. It uses this locomotion to move between nearby ponds or catch escaping prey.

She wiggles!

[feelingautistic]

Exciting news for the cute shark lovers of the world! We finally have a recorded sighting of a baby great white shark, likely only a few hours old.

The question of where great white sharks give birth still remains a mystery to this day but this footage may suggest the coasts of California, where the footage was taken, are a site where these sharks give birth.

[protectoursharks]

There are four types of fish scales!

Cycloid scales are thin, overlap, and flexible. They're found on primitive teleosts (like minnows and carp).

Ctenoid scales have small, backwards pointed scales (known as cterns) make the fish more hydrodynamic and faster. They're found on Advanced Ctenoids (like perch and sunfish).

Ganoid scales are thick, diamond-shaped, and mostly non-overlapping. They're found on Chondrostei (like sturgeons and paddlefish).

Placoid scales are spikey and tooth-like with nerves. These are found on Chondrichthyes (like sharks and rays).

Ichthyology Notes 3/?

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #846

Dealfish!

It’s a deep sea pelagic fish that uses its extendable mouth to suck in small fish and squid. It is usually solitary, but congregates with others of its kind for unknown reasons.

[sturgeonposting]

Hello!

Welcome to sturgeonposting. I’m sturgeonposting. My pronouns are they/them. I’m 22. I have autism.

This is my blog where I post about sturgeon fish, which are my special interest.

For sturgeon facts, go to #sturgeon facts

For information on a specific sturgeon, search the scientific name as I tag all my posts with scientific names. Some species have multiple common names.

For sturgeon-only content, block/ filter #not sturgeon???

I tag #tw fish as food if I’m talking about fish as food or #tw food in general cause I got an eating disorder

This is sturgeonposting. There are sturgeon here. I do not want to hear about how you dislike sturgeon. Please go away. I don’t need you to tell me that you think something I love is ugly. (I also don't really want to hear about how much you love caviar.)

Feel free to request a specific sturgeon species in my asks, or to ask any questions you may have about sturgeon fish. You can also just shoot me an ask about anything and I’ll most likely answer it. I especially love receiving pictures of sturgeon, if you’ve taken any.

I struggle with a few chronic illnesses and general states of unwellness, which sometimes causes me to disappear from tumblr for various unpredictable amounts of time, but I promise I will always return eventually to gab about sturgeon fish.

You can check out my Etsy at The Starry Sturgeon! I sell patches, plushies, beaded jewelry, and other sturgeon-themed goods. Everything is handmade and most of it is created using secondhand, hand-me-down, or vintage materials. It’s just me in my bedroom trying to make some extra money to help with living expenses. Pricing is always negotiable and I am also open to trades. DM me!

Thanks for visiting sturgeonposting and happy sturgeonposting. This has been sturgeonposting.

P.S. I also have a side blog called @shuttletatted so if you’re here from the world of fiber arts wondering why you got a like from a fish blog, welcome and I hope you’re less confused.

P.P.S. I have a second side blog called @marrowsucker which is where I put personal stuff if you’re interested in knowing the sturgeon behind the posting