Pictures of Fishes

-
.
African Lungfish
The African lungfish is one of three species of lungfish. This lungfish is equipped with both a lung and rudimentary gills. During the dry season, the African lungfish is able to survive by curling itself into a tight ball with its tail covering the eyes. Mud adheres to the body mucous, forming an impervious casing. The lungfish then becomes dormant, or estivates, until the rainy season again fills the pool, softens the mud casing, and releases the fish.

Betta
The betta, or Siamese fighting fish, is native to Southeast Asia. It has been extensively cultured for the aquarium trade. Cultured bettas have long, flowing fins and brilliant colors. They must periodically swim to the surface to capture air in a specialized structure called a labyrinth organ. By breathing atmospheric oxygen, bettas are able to inhabit oxygen-poor waters where few other fish can survive.



Bicolor Parrot Fish
Parrot fish have the unusual ability to change gender. This female bicolor parrot fish may have been a male in the past, or may transform into a male soon. Parrot fish use their strong jaws to break off small pieces of coral and graze on algae growing among the coral.



Brown Bullhead
Valued for food and sport, the brown bullhead, a North American species of catfish, lives in many freshwater streams in the eastern United States. Usually measuring less than 46 cm (18 in) long, the brown bullhead exhibits the typical whiskerlike feelers that give the catfish its name. The brown bullhead is considered the most commercially important of all catfish.




Butterfly Fish
The butterfly fish is a member of the order Perciformes, the largest order of bony fishes. Hundreds of species of butterfly fish are found on coral reefs around the world. Fast and flexible, they can dart quickly into coral crevices to avoid predators and chase after food items. Most species of butterfly fish are brightly colored and patterned, with one or more false eyespots on the fins. This type of coloration serves to disrupt the outline of the body against the background of the coral reef, making it difficult for predators to detect them.

Chain Moray
The chain moray, a coral reef dweller, is a member of the eel family, fish that occasionally lack fins and whose gill openings are reduced to small circular openings. Secretive by nature, the chain morays usually inhabit a coral cave or crevice and wait for unsuspecting fish and invertebrates, which they capture with their sharp teeth and powerful jaws.




Common Sunfish
The common sunfish, a close relative of the bluegill sunfish, largemouth bass, and smallmouth bass, is a small, spiny-rayed, freshwater fish with a bright orange tip at the end of its gill flap. Native to drainage basins east of the Rocky Mountains, this sunfish is popular with young anglers.






Cookie-Cutter Shark
The cookie-cutter shark is named for the cookie-shaped bites that it takes out of its prey. Using special lips modified for sucking and a movable tongue that retracts to form suction, the cookie-cutter attaches itself to the side of prey. It then presses its sharp teeth into the prey’s flesh and uses a twisting motion to cut and remove a round plug of flesh. Even though the cookie-cutter is one of the smallest species of sharks, it preys on large animals such as whales, dolphins, and sharks, and has even bitten into submarines.


Domestic Goldfish
The numerous varieties of domestic goldfish have all come from the wild goldfish of eastern Asia. Domestic goldfish have been bred for centuries, especially in Japan and China, and have adapted to fresh waters around the world. Goldfish can be extremely long-lived and have become popular as domestic pets.





French Angelfish
The French angelfish is a common inhabitant of the coral reef community. The angelfish is easily identified by its large dorsal and anal fins and the prominent vertical yellow stripes along the sides of its body.

< more pictures >

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Animal Kingdom

-
Image
. Kingdom Animalia includes more than one million living species, grouped into more than 30 phyla. Vertebrates, members of the phylum Chordata, comprise only one percent of these organisms. Phylum Arthropoda is more successful in sheer numbers, total mass, and distribution than all other groups of animals combined. The remaining animal phyla are composed of mostly marine-dwelling organisms. THE MAJOR PHYLA : Acanthocephala (Spiny-Headed Worm) Annelida (Annelids) Arthropoda (Arthropods)-> subphyla: Chelicerata, Crustacea, and Unirama Brachiopoda (Lampshell) Chaetognatha (Arrowworm) Chordata (Chordates)-> subphyla: Cephalochordata, Tunicata , Vertebrata ( fishes , amphibians , reptiles , birds , and mammals ) Cnidaria (Cnidarians) Ctenophora (Comb Jellies) Cycliophora (Symbion) Echinodermata (Echinoderms)-> Subphyla: Pelmatozoa, Eleutherozoa Echiura (Spoonworm) Ectoprocta (Moss Animals) or Bryozoa Entoprocta (Entoprocts) Gastrotricha (Gastrotrich) Gnathostomulida ...
Read more

Cattle

-
Cattle, name for the ruminant mammals of the genus Bos, and particularly those of the domesticated species, Bos taurus and B. indica. The term oxen, broadly used, refers also to closely related animals, such as the buffalo and the bison. Narrowly used, ox refers to a mature castrated male used for draft purposes. In referring to domestic cattle a grown male is a bull, a grown female a cow, an infant a calf, and an animal between one and two years old a yearling. A female that has not given birth is a heifer; a castrated male is a steer. Most cattle have unbranched horns consisting of a horny layer surrounding a bone extension of the skull; these horns, unlike those of deer, are not shed. Some cattle are naturally hornless. Western, or European, domestic cattle (Bos taurus) are thought to be descended mainly from the aurochs, a large European wild ox domesticated during the Stone Age, extinct since 1627. A smaller species, the Celtic shorthorn, was the most important domestic ox of t...
Read more

Chimpanzee

-
Chimpanzee, an ape, genus Pan, of the equatorial forests of central and W Africa. The common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, lives N of the Congo River. Full-grown animals of this species are up to 5 ft (1.5 m) tall and weigh about 150 lb (68 kg); they have an arm spread of up to 9 ft (2.7 m) and are much stronger than humans. They are covered with long, black hair over most of the body and have naked faces ranging in color from nearly white to nearly black. The pygmy chimpanzee, P. paniscus, now usually called the bonobo, lives south of the Congo. It is a bit smaller and more slenderly built, with a black face. Chimpanzees spend much time on the ground, where they walk on all fours, using the soles of the feet and the knuckles of the hands; they can also stand on two legs and sometimes walk this way for short distances. They climb trees in pursuit of food and for nesting and can swing by their hands from branch to branch. Their diet consists largely of fruit and other plant matter, but ...
Read more