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Pelican Eel

24 Dec

Pelican eel

Gulper/Pelican eel
Eurypharynx pelecanoides

This remarkable deep sea fish is not much more than a giant mouth with a long tail. The gulper eel’s tail is so long that it sometimes gets tied in knots.

Statistics
This species of gulper eel grows up to 60cm (2ft), although some other species can be up to 2m (6ft) in length.

Physical Description
Gulper eels have enormous mouths which are loosely-hinged, so that they can be opened wide like a net. This allows them to swallow animals much larger than themselves. The stomach can also expand to accommodate a very large meal.

They are black, and have long whip-like tails with a red bioluminescent organ at the tip. The eyes are very tiny and positioned at the end of the snout.

Distribution
They inhabit all temperate and tropical seas.

Habitat
Gulper eels are found at depths of 500-7,500m.

Diet
Food is scarce thousands of metres down, so it’s important to be able to eat whatever comes along. This species has poorly developed teeth, so mainly eats small crustaceans, but will also feed on fish and cephalopods.

Behaviour
The glowing tip of the gulper eel’s tail is thought to act as a lure to attract prey. It hangs in the water column, waiting for prey to come near, and then scoops it up with it’s umbrella-like mouth.

Reproduction
Gulper eels are like other types of eel in having transparent, leaf-shaped larvae known as leptocephali.

 
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Fangtooth

23 Dec

Fangtooths are ferocious-looking deep-sea beryciform fish of the family Anoplogastridae (sometimes spelled “Anoplogasteridae”). With a circumglobal distribution in tropical and cold-temperate waters, the family contains only two very similar species, in one genus, with no known close relatives: the common fangtooth, Anoplogaster cornuta, found worldwide; and the shorthorned fangtooth, Anoplogaster brachycera, found in the tropical waters of the Pacific andAtlantic Ocean.

ogrefish

While understandably named for their disproportionately large, fang-like teeth and unapproachable visage, fangtooths are actually quite small and unharmful to humans: the larger of the two species, the common fangtooth, reaches a maximum length of just 16 centimeters (6inches); the shortthorn fangtooth is about half this size.

The head is small with a large jaw and appears haggard, riddled with mucus cavities delineated by serrated edges and covered by a thin skin. The eyes are relatively small, set high on the head; the entire head is a dark brown to black and is strongly compressed laterally, deep anteriorly and progressively more slender towards the tail. The fins are small, simple, and spineless; the scales are embedded in the skin and take the form of thin plates. As compensation for reduced eyes, the lateral line is well-developed and appears as an open groove along the flanks.

In adults, the largest two fangs of the lower jaw jaw are so long that the fangtooths have evolved a pair of opposing sockets on either side of the brain to accommodate the teeth when the mouth is closed. According to BBC’s Blue Planet- The Deep -, the Fangtooth has the largest teeth of any fish in the ocean, proportionate to body size. The juveniles are morphologically quite different – unlike the adults, they possess long spines on the head and preoperculum, larger eyes, a functional gas bladder, long and slender gill rakers, much smaller and depressible teeth, and are a light gray in colour. These differences once caused the two life stages to be classed as distinct species, with one in another genus; Caulolepsis.

 
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Chimaera

23 Dec

Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes, known informally as ghost sharks, ratfish (not to be confused with the rattails), spookfish(not to be confused with the true spookfish of the family Opisthoproctidae), or rabbitfishes (not to be confused with the true rabbitfishes of the familySiganidae). They may be the “oldest and most enigmatic groups of fishes alive today.”At one time a “diverse and abundant” group (based on the fossil record), their closest living relatives are sharks, though in evolutionary terms they branched off from sharks nearly 400 million years ago and have remained isolated ever since, typically confined to deep water.

Black Chimaera

Black Chimaera

 
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Mega Mouth Shark

23 Dec

The megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is an extremely rare species of deepwater shark. Since its discovery in 1976, only a few megamouth sharks have been seen with 50 specimens known to have been caught or sighted as of 2010, including three recordings on film. Like the basking sharkand whale shark, it is a filter feeder, and swims with its enormous mouth wide open, filtering water for plankton and jellyfish. It is distinctive for its large head with rubbery lips. It is so unlike any other type of shark that it is classified in its own family Megachasmidae, though it has been suggested that it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae of which the basking shark is currently the sole member.

Mega Mouth Shark

Mega Mouth Shark

Physical characteristics

The appearance of the megamouth is distinctive, but little else is known about it. It has a brownish-black color on top and is white underneath, and an asymmetrical tail with a long upper lobe, similar to the thresher shark. The interior of its gill slits are lined with finger-like gill rakers that capture its food. A relatively poor swimmer, the megamouth has a soft, flabby body and lacks keels.

Megamouths are very large sharks, able to grow to 5.5 metres (18 ft) in length. Males mature by 4 metres (13 ft) and females by 5 metres (16 ft). Weights of up to 1,215 kilograms (2,680 lb) have been reported.

As their name implies, megamouths have a large mouth with small teeth, and a broad, rounded snout, causing observers to occasionally mistake megamouth for a young orca. The mouth is surrounded by luminous photophores, which may act as a lure for plankton or small fish. Their mouths can reach up to 1.3 meters wide.

Behaviour

In 1990 a 4.9 meter (16 ft) male megamouth shark was caught near the surface off Dana Point in California. This individual was eventually released with a small radio tag attached to its soft body. The tag relayed depth and time information over a two day period. During the day the shark cruised at a depth of around 120–160 m (400–525 ft), but as the sun set, it would ascend and spend the night at depths of between 12 and 25 m (39–80 ft). Both day and night its progress was very slow at around 1.5–2.1 km/h (1–1.3 mph). This pattern of vertical migration is seen in many marine animals as they track the movement of plankton in the water body. The shark captured in March 2009 was reportedly netted at a depth of 200 m (660 ft).

Reproduction

Reproduction is ovoviviparous, meaning that the young sharks develop in eggs that remain within the mother’s body until they hatch.

Discovery

The first megamouth was captured on November 15, 1976 about 25 miles off the coast from Kaneohe, Hawaii when it became entangled in the sea anchor of a United States Navy ship. Examination of the 14-1/2 foot (4.5 m), 1650 lb (750 kg) specimen by Leighton Taylor showed it to be an entirely unknown type of shark, making it one of the more sensational discoveries in 20th century ichthyology(see also coelacanth).

 
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Ocean Sunfish

22 Dec

Info :

Ocean Sunfish

Ocean Sunfish

The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.

Sunfish live on a diet that consists mainly of jellyfish, but because this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts in order to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate.[1] Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish.

Adult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, but sea lions, orcas and sharks will consume them. Among humans, sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, the Korean peninsula and Taiwan. In the EU, regulations ban the sale of fish[2] and fishery products[3] derived of the Molidae family. Sunfish are frequently, though accidentally, caught in gillnets, and are also vulnerable to harm or death from encounters with floating trash, such as plastic bags.

A member of the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes pufferfish, porcupinefish and filefish, the sunfish shares many traits common to members of this order. It was originally classified as Tetraodon mola under the pufferfish genus, but it has since been given its own genus, Mola, with two species under it. The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the type species of the genus.

 
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Flamingo

14 Dec

3 Types of Flamingos

3 Types of Flamingos

Nearly everyone knows what flamingos look like —pink birds with long legs. You can see them at just about every zoo. You can find them in storybooks.

How Do They Live

Flamingos live in large groups all year long called colonies. Tens of thousands of flamingos can live in one colony! Within a colony, flamingos breed in pairs. Every pair of flamingos does not breed every year, however. Breeding

Flamingos are able to reproduce by the age of about six. There is no specific season associated with breeding, but it seems to be correlated with rain. Nest building may depend on rainfall and its effect on food supply.

When they are ready to lay their breed, birds will form pairs. Within the whole colony, groups of birds will be engaged in courtship displays -, a predictable sequence of displays including marching and head turning, calling and preening. Several hundred to several thousand flamingos are all doing the same behaviors at the same time. This helps to synchronize breeding within the colony, so that most of the birds are laying eggs or raising young at the same time.

Why are flamingos pink?

Feather color varies with species, ranging from pale pink to crimson or vermilion. Caribbean flamingos have the brightest coloration: crimson or vermilion. The Chilean flamingo is pale pink.

How Do They Get Food Out Of The Water?

Flamingos use their large beaks to filter small food items from the water. A flamingo lowers its head into the water, upside-down. It moves its head from side to side, collecting the food/water mixture. The spiny, piston-like tongue acts to pump the water mixture past the toothlike ridges on the outside of the beak and the lamellae, or finger-like projections, inside the beak. The lamellae act as strainers to remove the food particles from the water.

 
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Conger eel

20 Jun

The monstrous migrating eel can be found off our coasts. Simon King, the brave man, dived to try to meet one of these top predators face-to-face in Autumnwatch 2008.

Conger Eel

Conger Eel

Species information

In and around the rocky places and shipwrecks of our seas lurks one top predator that every creature on the seabed should be be wary of – the conger eel. This muscular and snake-like monster can reach three metres long and weigh over 50kg. The long and powerful conger with its strong jaw and sharp teeth, will eat almost any seafood it finds, from octopus to crabs to fish. It is most active at night as it leaves its resting place to hunt.

Its smooth, scaleless skin makes it the proverbial slippery customer. The dorsal fin runs the length of its body and the upper jaw extends beyond the lower one. After an amazing migration to the centre of the Atlantic the mature conger eel spawns only once and then dies soon afterwards. The young of the conger eel are called ‘straps’.

The conger is most common and widespread in the waters of south and west Britain and the whole of Ireland. It can occasionally be found around any of our coastlines, usually at depths down to 500m or even as low as 4,000m when spawning.

 
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Posted in Conger Eel, Nocturnal Animals | Night Animals

 

Skunk

18 Jun
Skunk

Skunk

Skunks are the smelliest mammals. These small, nocturnal animals are found in South and Central America and much of North America.

The Spray: Skunks produce a very smelly spray that repels most predators. This oily, yellow liquid is produced in two glands located under the tail. They can spray up to 10 feet away. The smell is long-lasting and very hard to get rid of.

Anatomy: Wild skunks are black and white, but the patterns vary. They all have a bushy tail, short legs, clawed feet, and a long snout. Domesticated skunks have a variety of coat colors and patterns.

Diet: Skunks are omnivores; they eat insects, rodents, reptiles, small mammals, worms, eggs, fish, fruit, and plants.

Tracks – The skunk leaves a distinct pattern which is easily identified. The smaller front feet are pigeon-toed and placed just ahead of the larger rear feet while in motion. This five-toed creature has long claws which are usually evident in the print.

 
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Adult Brown Snake

26 Apr

The adult brown snake is dark brown to grayish brown. The snake generally has a broad light stripe bordered by dark spots down the back. The belly is pink some times with rows of small black spots. This snake has keeled scales. The snake has a light ring around its neck. Brown snakes emerge from hibernation after the ground is thaw in the spring. These snakes mate mostly in the spring or late summer. Eight to twenty young are born alive from mid-July through August. Even though these snakes are into hibernation by November they may emerge during periods of warm winter. Brown snakes are found throughout the main land of Australia and are responsible for the majority of snakebite deaths there. The snake eats rats, mice, birds, lizards, and other snakes. They are attracted to barns, farms, and swampy areas. The snake is about 1.5 meters long. Yes, these snakes are poisonous! The poison is made of neurotoxic and procagulant.

Australian Brown Snake

Australian Brown Snake

Family: Natricidae – Harmless Live-Bearing Snakes

Typical Adult Size: 9 to 13 inches

Reproduction: live bearing

Eye Pupil: round

Dorsal Scales: keeled

Anal Scale: divided

 
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Pygmy Rattle Snake

26 Apr

Description: This small [14–22 in (38-56 cm)] rattlesnake belongs to the genus Sistrurus and is commonly referred to as a pigmy rattler or ground rattler. Unlike the larger rattlesnakes of the genus Crotalus, this species has nine large scales on top of the head and a tiny rattle that can seldom be heard. There are three subspecies of pigmy rattlesnakes, of which two occur in Georgia (Sistrurus miliarius miliarius – the Carolina pigmy rattler and Sistrurus miliarius barbouri – the dusky pigmy rattler). Both subspecies have a row of mid-dorsal spots and a bar than runs from the eye to the base of the mouth, but the color of this bar can vary from black to brownish red. An orange or reddish brown dorsal stripe is also present on both subspecies. In young snakes, the tip of the tail is sulfur yellow and is used for caudal luring. The Carolina pigmy rattler can be gray, tan, or lavender. Some specimens from northern Georgia and eastern North Carolina are orange or red. The pattern of this subspecies is usually clean and well defined, with one or two rows of lateral spots. The venter is moderately patterned. The dusky pigmy ranges from bluish gray to nearly black. Numerous dark flecks often obscure the pattern of this subspecies. There are normally three rows of lateral spots, and the venter is heavily patterned.

Pygmy Rattle Snake

Pygmy Rattle Snake

Range and Habitat: The Carolina pigmy rattler is found in the northeastern, northwestern, and central portion of Georgia and throughout South Carolina . Dusky pigmy rattlers inhabits the southern Coastal Plain area. Although fairly common in the Coastal Plain of both states, populations in the Piedmont are few and scattered. Dusky pygmies inhabit areas near water sources like creeks, marshes, and swamps but can be found in a variety of habitats including pine and scrub oak sandhills, scrub pinewoods, mixed forests of pine and hardwoods, longleaf pine-wiregrass forests, swamps, and even xeric uplands. Carolina pigmies are generally restricted to drier habitats and are most common in sandhills and xeric pine forests. When available, this species is known to use gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows as well as those of small mammals.

Habits: Pigmy rattlesnakes spend most of their time well-hidden among leaf litter and can be very hard to spot. From such hiding places they ambush a variety of prey including lizards, frogs, small mammals, and insects as well as centipedes. These snakes are most often encountered crossing roads on summer evenings. Females give birth to live young in the late summer or fall.

 
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