#did you know

[amnhnyc]

Just how giant is the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus)? Unlike other armadillos—which can roll up to defend themselves from foes—this animal's size prevents it from hiding inside its carapace. Instead, it relies on bulk to deter predators. This South American species can reach lengths of 3.9 ft (1.2 m) and weights of more than 110 lbs (50 kg)! Primarily nocturnal, it spends much of its time in underground burrows. Its diet consists primarily of termites and ants, though it has been known to feed on small vertebrates, worms, and even carrion.

Photo: luiz_alberto_santos, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

[kays-catch-of-the-day]

Good morning folks! Apologies for the brief absence of your fishy facts, but we are right back to it with a truly amazing top-tier bottom feeder!

Today’s Catch of the Day is the Blue Catfish (*ictalurus furcatus*), North America’s largest native catfish, native to the Mississippi River watershed.

Blue Catfish are known to reach lengths of about 65 inches (5ft 5in) and weigh as much as approximately 140lbs! Heavily bodied and blueish gray in color, they are often misidentified as their Channel Catfish, as both species share a distinctive dorsal hump, among other prominent features. The most easy mode of distinguishing between the two species is to count the rays on the anal fin, with the Blue Catfish holding between 30 to 36 rays, while a Channel Catfish has 25-29 rays. Blue Catfish also have prominent barbels, a forked tail, and a protruding upper jaw. Much of their bodies are covered in chemoreceptors, which allow them to essentially “taste” whatever they touch and “smell” chemicals in the water! Blue Catfish, like many other larger catfish, have a reduced gas bladder and a heavy, bony skull, which allows them to sink more easily and facilitate their bottom-feeding diet.

With their wide. gaping jaws that lack traditional teeth, Blue Catfish are opportunistic predators, eating just about anything it can swallow, from other fish, including other Blue Catfish, along with mussels, crabs, worms, frogs, among other aquatic life. Their loosey-goosey diet, in tandem with their ability to tolerate brackish water, enables Blue Catfish to thrive as invasive species in non-native environments, most notably and prolifically in the Chesapeake Bay, where they are considered very problematic, having become one of the most prominent fish species in the watershed, with recent electrofishing studies recording rates exceeding 6,000 fish/hr!

An angling world record was set on June 18, 2011 in Kerr Lake on the Virginia/North Carolina border, where a Blue Catfish weighing 143 lbs and measuring 57 inches was caught by a local fisherman!

As its highly successful invasive abilities success would suggest, the Blue Catfish is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red Book. So, while these goliaths should always be respected and treated with care in their habitats, it is important that measures be taken to control the Blue Catfish populations in their invasive habitats. Overall, these majestic mud-dwellers qualify as a Blue Ribbon Fish on our fishy rating scale!

[uesp]

Did You Know: This mudcrab is staring at you?

[nscafe-firehose]

First thing that came to mind after reading his professional name... one of Mel Brooks' characters in Blazing Saddles... I guess it's a pity that the Governor character never appeared in the beans scene...

I’m a talented amateur: Joseph Pujol aka Le Pétomane was a professional fartist. He had remarkable control of his abdominal muscles which enabled him fart at will. Highlights of his stage act involved sound effects of cannon fire and thunderstorms, as well as playing "'O Sole Mio" and "La arseillaise". Active 1894-1914.

[reality-detective]

In this orchestra, a woman plays an instrument called a "Theremin," it is a quantum instrument played only with the energy of the hands, an instrument that forms a magnetic field and is played untouched.

Only three countries in the world have music schools that teach theremin: Russia, Japan and Ireland. The theremin was invented by Leon Theremin, a Russian who introduced it to Lenin in 1920. 🤔

[oscahpitlane]

Lewis Hamilton Last Race Comparison

[aabotaab]

"are you okay" no can we change the topic before i start oversharing

[aeinzalot]

the three sillies

[amnhnyc]

Have you ever seen the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus)? This critter, which spends most of its life in the trees, uses long claws and a prehensile tail to hang high above the ground. Fun fact: This mammal prefers to inhabit ceiba trees, and its silky fur is actually a form of camouflage. Ceiba trees just so happen to produce large fluffy seed pods that resemble this animal’s fur! This resemblance helps keep the anteater hidden from predators.  

Photo: Vincent Rufray, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

[yesornopolls]

[uesp]

Did You Know: By reverse pickpocketing higher quality arrows, you can upgrade the arrows NPCs use? By doing this to guards that do target practice, you can easily get as many of these higher quality arrows as you want.

[iztea]

[factoidfactory]

Random Fact #6,634

Alligators can live up to 80 years old.

[reality-detective]

Fake Biden: NOT one thing was legit. 🤔

[year-of-the-echidna]

Knuckles' ability to sense signals given off by the Master Emerald and related objects could be somewhat similar to real world echidnas using electroreception to locate prey. This is likely a coincidence, but a fun one nonetheless!