Animals

Balloonfish

DESCRIPTION: Tan teardrop-shaped body with brownblotches and black spots over entire length. Long spines (typically seenlowered) are found over entire body surface, starting at the forehead. Eyes arelarge and pronounced with yellow irises. Iridescent blue-green specks may beseen within pupil. Brown band runs over forehead, from eye to eye. Fins areclear. Rounded caudal fin.
SIZE: 20.3-35.6 cm avg; 50.8 cm max
FUN FACTS:

When threatened or frightened, theballoonfish will take in water - thereby noticeably expanding its overall bodysize. In this inflated state, its spines stand erect. The spines and theenlarged size can prove intimidating to potential predators.

Throughout certain Pacific island communities,the balloonfish was historically fashioned as a helmet

ElectricRay

SIZE: Atlantic torpedo ray may be up to 1.82 m in lengthIn general, female rays are larger thanmales.
WEIGHT: Atlantic torpedo ray may reach 90 kg
FUN FACTS:

Electric rays belong to the superorderBatoidea, which includes stingrays, skates, guitarfishes, and sawfishes. Liketheir relatives the sharks, batoids have skeletons made of tough connectivetissue called cartilage.

Atlantic torpedo rays (Torpedonobiliana), for example, live along the coastlines of Canada, the UnitedStates, United Kingdom,and South Africa.But they also have been found in the open ocean at depths of approximately 450 m. Blind electricrays (Typhlonarke aysoni) have been discovered in waters as deep as 900 m.

The mouth of the Australian coffin ray(Hypnos monopterygium) is enormous, allowing it to gulp prey half the size ofits body.

All livingcreatures produce electricity - even humans - but electric rays have twospecial kidney-shaped organs that generate and store electricity like abattery. Large Atlantic torpedo rays can generate enough power to produce ashock of about 220 volts, while smaller rays, like the lesser electric ray(Narcine brasiliensis) can only muster a shock of about 37 volts.

Most electric rays bury themselvesunder sand during the day and come out at night to feed. If prey isencountered, the ray will stun the creature with electricity. Then, the raywill guide the food with its pectoral fins to its mouth, which is located underits body.

Inaddition to stunning potential prey and dissuading prospective predators, theelectric organs of electric rays may also be used to detect prey and tocommunicate with each other.

Gar

DESCRIPTION: Gars are distinctive fish with longcylindrical-shaped bodies and heads with elongated jaws and needle-like teeth.Bony plates known as ganoid scales cover their bodies.
SIZE: Ranges from 0.76-4 m; depends on species.The alligator gar is one of the largest of all freshwater fishes, with onemeasuring 3 mlong and weighing 127 kg.
FUN FACTS:

This ancient family of fish has severalprimitive features, such as a skeletal system that contains a great deal ofcartilage instead of bone. Also, their vertebrae are opisthocoelous (anteriorconvex, posterior concave), which is a characteristic seen in reptiles. Thistype of vertebrae is found in no other fish species except those in theSemionotiformes order. Finally, gars have a swim bladder connected to theiresophagus, which acts like a lung. This allows gars to breathe air in stagnantwaters with little oxygen.

The rareganoid scales of the alligator gar are so hard that humans have used them forbreastplate armor, arrowheads, luggage, and even to cover the blades of woodenploughs.

Great Barracuda

DESCRIPTION: Silver cylindrical body with darkblotches and lighter side bands. Mouth is a prominent feature with its obviousconical teeth and large underslung jaw. Dorsal fins are widely separated.Slightly centrally cleft (emarginate) caudal fin
SIZE: 45.7-91.4 cm avg; 200 cm max
WEIGHT: 50 kg (110.2 lbs) max

Great White Shark

COMMONNAME: Great white shark, white shark,white pointer, white-death, mango-taniwha.
DESCRIPTION: Large-sized, predatory shark with rowsof serrated, triangular-shaped teeth. Generally darker on dorsal region andwhitish below.
MALE: External claspers located on the far undersideof the body - forward of the caudal fin - distinguish males.
SIZE: Average4.3-5.5 m.The largest great white ever documented, caught off the coast of Cuba,measured 6.4 m.
WEIGHT:Average680-1,800 kg
HABITAT: Great whitesharks favor temperate waters worldwide, primarily along coastlines.Additionally, they may be found in tropical and sub-tropical waters
FUN FACTS:

Although itis not the largest of all sharks, the great white is the largest predatoryshark. Some relatively harmless sharks, like the whale shark, are much largerthan the great white.

Scientists can easily identify theteeth of a great white shark. The upper teeth are large, broad, and triangular,while the lower teeth are slightly more slender. All the teeth are serrated.Like other sharks, a great white continually looses its teeth and replaces themwith new ones.

Though great white attacks on humansare well documented, they are generally rare. Recent studies suggest that greatwhites may find humans unpalatable. Attacks probably occur when a sharkmistakes a human for a seal or sea lion, the great white's principle prey.

Lookdown

DESCRIPTION: Bright silver body is noticeablylaterally compressed. Forehead is extremely blunt. Single dorsal and anal finexhibit elongated, trailing fore parts. Caudal peduncle is truncated andnarrow. Deeply centrally cleft (lunate) caudal fin.
SIZE: 15.2-25.4 cm avg; 48.3 cm max
WEIGHT: 2.1 kg max
DIET: Small crabs, shrimp, fishes, and worms

Parrotfish

DESCRIPTION: Parrotfish have thick, heavy bodies andlarge scales. They are found in tropical waters throughout the world and appearin a wide variety of colors, which may change depending on their sex, status,or maturity.
SIZE: Rainbow parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia) maygrow up to 1.2 m in length
FUN FACTS:

The name "parrotfish" isderived from their fused teeth, which bear close resemblance to a bird's beak.Their teeth are specialized for scraping algae and invertebrates from coral androcks. Another set of teeth (pharyngeal teeth), are located on the floor androof of their throats. The pharyngeal teeth crush the ingested materials.

Parrotfish are generally social and maybe found in schools of around 40 individuals. Sometimes an adult breeding malecalled the supermale leads these schools. Supermales are typically sex-reversedfemales and are strongly territorial and habitually drive other males away fromtheir areas.

Schools of parrotfish graze over a reefmuch like a herd of cattle over a grassy field. Large amounts of calcareousmaterials are consumed and excreted by schools of parrotfish. In just one year,one parrotfish may convert a ton of coral into sand.

Somespecies of parrotfish secrete a mucus cocoon around them before they rest,protecting them from predators that hunt by smell (morays) or by touch(crustaceans). It takes a parrotfish half an hour to secrete the cocoon andalmost as long to get out. Parrotfish do not make these cocoons every night,and it is unknown why a parrotfish chooses a particular night to sleep in acocoon.

Piranhas

DESCRIPTION: Piranhas have a robust, narrow body, ablunt head, and strong jaws with triangular-shaped, razor sharp teeth. Piranhastend to be silvery with red-pigmented patches.
SIZE: Typical size is 20.3-30.5 cm, although adults ofsome species grow larger
FUN FACTS:

Piranhas are well known for their razorsharp teeth, and have a reputation for having voracious appetites. Althoughthey are known to occasionally attack large animals, the reputation is greatlyexaggerated. Most adult piranhas - depending on the species - eat fruit, seeds,and fish. Some have been found with bird fragments, snakes, and small mammalsin their stomachs. Young piranhas may eat copepods, crustaceans, and insects.

Piranhas may feed more aggressivelywhen their normal food resources become scarce. Water levels of their riverhomes fall during the dry season. Piranhas may become trapped in stagnant poolsfor weeks. When all of the food in these pools is consumed, piranhas may eatanything that enters the water.

Fivespecies are considered potentially dangerous to humans: Serrasalmus piraya, S.nattereri, S. niger, S. rhombeus, and S.eigenmanni - but piranha attacks on people are extremely rare. According to Dr.Herbert R. Axelrod, in his Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes, "In 25years of travel and fishing in almost every river system in South America,nearly all of which had schools of piranha, I NEVER was bitten, nor did I evermeet anyone who was bitten...nor did I ever meet anyone who even knew anyonewho was bitten by a piranha...and these are mostly Indians who live on theriver and swim in it every day."

Pufferfish & Porcupinfish

DESCRIPTION: Tetraodontiformes have bodies that arevery rounded and often tapered at the mouth and caudal (tail) fin regions.Color varies, but many species have light spots and or spines. These fishescommon names reference their ability to inflate their bodies with air or water.
SIZE: Up to a maximum of 90 cm
FUN FACTS:

The order Tetraodontiformes (Latin for"four teeth") is a group of more than 300 fish species that includessunfishes, spike fishes, leatherjackets, boxfishes, puffers, andporcupinefishes. As the Latin translation suggests, most of these fish havefour teeth fused into their jaws. Exceptions include three tooth puffers(Triodon macropterus), as well as porcupinefishes and sunfishes, which have twofused teeth.

Members of the puffer family are notentirely covered with scales. If alarmed, they can inflate themselves withwater or air and balloon up to three times their normal size. This"puffing" ploy is used only in desperation, as the inflated pufferloses most of its maneuverability. A puffer would prefer to escape predators byswimming into a crevice.

Porcupinefishcan also inflate their bodies with water or air, but these fishes are alsoarmed with well-developed spines from head to tail. These spines, which can beup to 5 cmlong, make the porcupine fish even more difficult to attack.

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