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| Monday, November 29, 2010 |
| TT - Tuna Facts |
Unlike most fish, tuna has pink meat, due to the fact that their blood has a higher oxygen content.
The Bluefin Tuna can weigh up to approximately 1,500 pounds.
A picture of the Northern Bluefin Tuna has been on stamps from Maldives, Cuba, Western Sahara, and Canada.
The body of the Northern Bluefin Tuna is shaped like a cigar and is stout. The head is narrowed and the mouth large. It is dark blue on top and gray on the bottom.
The Northern Bluefin is a delicacy in Japan and a large tuna can get a price of over $100,000 on the Tokyo fish market.
The Yellowfin Tuna is the type of tuna you buy in a can.
The Yellowfin can grow up to approximately 440 pounds. It has a yellow anal and dorsal fin and fishermen catch them with encircling nets or with a rod and reel.
The level of Mercury in tuna fish can be high, so the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a warning for pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children to watch their intake of tuna fish.
The Albacore Tuna is also used for canned tuna fish and can weigh up to approximately 85 pounds. They are caught by either a rod and reel or nets.
Southern Bluefin are one of the most sought after as they are a delicacy in Japan and are very hard to catch. The average size is approximately 15 pounds.
The Skipjack Tuna is another small fish weighing approximately 7-9 pounds. It is also good for canned tuna, however, some claim it has a “fishier” taste.
Fishing for tuna is very heavily regulated as the tuna species has dwindled.
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posted by Nature Mad @ 8:09 AM  |
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| Monday, November 22, 2010 |
| TT - Fun Fish Facts |
The Great Barrier Reef Aquarium is the world’s largest living reef aquarium with 2.5 million liters of water! It is located in Queenshead, Australia.
For the largest window in an aquarium you’ll have to visit Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.
The world’s largest aquarium is The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Today, fresh and saltwater aquarium fish are the most popular pet in the United States. Approximately 12 million households own aquariums.
The world’s tiniest fish is the Stout Infant which is about a quarter-of-an-inch long. The largest fish in the world is the whale shark which grows to about 39-feet long.
In Thailand in July, 2005, fisherman caught a 646-pound giant Mekong catfish! It was as big as a grizzly bear.
Why do dental offices often have aquariums? Studies have shown that aquariums in medical offices reduce stress among patients who are waiting to undergo procedures.
The largest fish fossil found to date is from the Leedsichthys problematicus which lived 150 million years ago. It was found in England in 2003 and measured 72-feet long.
Cavefish have no sight, but have an advantage in detecting movement and odor.
Baby seahorses are called Fry.
Goldfish have longer life spans than both cats and dogs, living over 20 years.
That is the same life span of a lobster.
A person who studies fish for a living is called an ichthyologist.
Fish, with nearly 27,000 living species, are the largest population of Vertebrate (backbone) animals. In fact, if you combined all the other Vertebrates, fish would still outnumber them.
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| posted by Nature Mad @ 8:12 AM |
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| Monday, November 15, 2010 |
| TT - Puffer Fish Facts |
· Puffer fish get their name from a natural ability. When they feel threatened, they puff up to as much as twice their normal size.
· Other names for puffer fish include fugu, blowfish, globefish and balloon fish.
· There are over 100 species of puffer fish. They live in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
· The poison from the puffer fish is 1,000 times stronger than cyanide. It is called tetrodoxin. One puffer fish has enough of the chemical to kill 30 adults.
· People in Japan eat puffer fish even though they know they can die if it isn’t prepared properly.
· Puffer fish are carnivores. They eat only meat.
· Puffer fish have fused teeth which they use to crush their prey and grind it. They eat sea urchins, coral, sponges and small crustaceans.
· Puffer fish have small mouths and fins in proportion to the rest of their body.
· Modified scales come in the form of spines.
· These fish have elasticized skin which enables them to puff up.
· The size of puffer fish is between six and twenty four inches long.
· Puffer fish can blink and close their eyes, which is very unusual. There are few fish that can accomplish this.
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| posted by Nature Mad @ 8:10 AM |
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| Monday, November 8, 2010 |
| TT - Turtle Facts |
Turtles, as opposed to tortoises, live in or around water. Some varieties only leave the water to lay eggs.
A turtle’s shell is made of bone, made of keratin, a substance rather like a human fingernail. The shell consists of sections. As the turtle grows, new layers of keratin are formed between the sections.
Turtle fossils have been found linking them to the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago.
Turtle are present in the mythology of many civilizations. The Chinese, for instance, around 2500 B.C. favored a symbol of a snake entwined with a turtle to ward off evil spirits.
In ancient Japan, turtles were considered a symbol of happiness and good fortune.
In the year 456 B.C., the Greek playwright, Aeschylus was killed when a turtle was dropped on his head by an eagle. Generally, however, turtles are quiet, docile companions.
Turtles are cold-blooded. They need an external heat source. If they get too cool, they can’t digest their food and may hibernate.
Some types of turtles, such as the leatherback turtle can swim at speeds up to 23 miles per hour.
Turtles can be herbivores (vegetable eaters), carnivores (meat-eaters), or insectivores (insect eaters).
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| posted by Nature Mad @ 8:09 AM |
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| Sunday, November 7, 2010 |
| WW - Which bird is it??? |
I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)
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| posted by Nature Mad @ 7:41 AM |
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| Monday, November 1, 2010 |
| TT - Tiger Facts |
*Tigers are the largest of all wild cats and are renowned for their power and strength
*There are 5 remaining subspecies of tigers and all are endangered
*Tigers are hunted as trophies and also for body parts that are used in traditional Chinese medicine
*Tigers live alone
*They are powerful hunters and travel many miles to find their prey, such as wild boar and elk
*Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male
*Despite their fearsome reputation, most tigers avoid humans
*Stripes identify the tiger like a fingerprint identifies a human, and they are all different
*In low light a tiger can see 6 times more clearly that a human can see
*Soft pads on the bottom of a tiger's paws muffle the sound of it's feet when it walks
*The tiger has the largest upper canine teeth of all the big cats and are generally about
3 inches long (around the same size of the middle finger of an adult person)
*A tiger can eat as much as 75 pounds of meat at one time
*A tiger's roar can be heard for up to 2 miles!
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| posted by Nature Mad @ 8:16 AM |
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