Well, Glory be, it's Mishmash THREE

[TheOldSalt]

Manta Rays have a habit of jumping out of the water and smacking it when they come back down again, resulting in a thunderous noise which can be heard underwater for several miles. With a "wingspan" of 20 feet and a weight of two tons, the Atlantic Manta, Manta birostris, can make quite a splash.
By the way, the word "manta" is spanish and it means "blanket." "Birostris" means having two horns.

Pennsylavania is home to about 70 species of freshwater clams, many of them endangered.

The Bowfin, Amia calva, is able to live in places where other fish can't, because it's swimbladder does double duty as a lung. They taste terrible, by the way, but some people smoke the meat to make it more palatable.

The longfin butterfly Koi is said to have been created from crossing koi with fantail goldfish.

In an evolutionary sense, the "mother" of all fishes, the first thing we'd call a fish, is recognized as Pterichthys. Of course, we still have a lot to learn.

Most fish are born naked, that is, without scales. The scales form within a few weeks. As the fish growm the scales also grow. The fish does not grow new scales as it ages.

Salmon scales are very reliable "diaries" of the salmon's life. The growth rings can be used to show things like age, how much time it's spent in the sea v.s. the river, and even how many times it has spawned. Contrary to popular belief, salmon don't always die after spawning. However, they do starve. and their scales are actually resorbed a bit during this time, resulting in a little wavy line around the scale.

The biggest freshwater fish in the USA is the White Sturgeon, weighing in at over 2000 pounds, which is considerably heavier than even the renowned Alligator Gar and it's measly 300 pounds. The biggest freshwater fish in the world? Well, that's a matter of some debate. The Arapaimia and the Salton catfish are major contenders along with quite a number of other giants which are mostly catfishes, but a carplike fish from china might have them both beaten by a wide margin. Reports are sketchy, but this bright red behemoth may be over twice the size of the others.

The Golden Trout is a very pretty fish from high altitude areas in California. Orginally occuring only in a couple of small streams at Mount Whitney, this little fish had an adult size of around 8 inches, was sexually mature at 6 inches, and usually spawned at only one year of age. When the state decided to increase it's range for sportfishing, it introduced the trout to other waters, including a nearby lake which was pretty much barren. The fish thrived in these new waters, but something very strange happened. The fish suddenly began growing to a size of 15 inches, and didn't attain sexual maturity until age 3, when it had hit 10 inches. This trout is still one of the oiliest fish around no matter what the size.

Most of you know that the slimy mucus coating of a fish is helpful for keeping it safe from infections, but did you know it is actually helpful as a lubricant as well? It helps the fish cut through the water, and the thickness of the slime is often determined by the speed of the local water current. Discus fish of course feed their slime to their fry, and while that's an obscure little factiod known by many, one very obvious one tends to go unnoticed. The slime of a fish makes it ...waterproof! Being semi-permeable, the skin of a fish is subject to a lot of problems by being constantly submerged. The slime acts a a barrier which allows the skin to conduct proper osmoregulation without being overwhelmed.

When allowed to spawn for a even just a few generations in normal light, the Blind Cave Tetra starts growing it's eyes again, and getting some color. In fact, that's how we figured out that the fish we long knew as Anopichthys jordani was really only a cave form of the more common Astyanax mexicanus, the Mexican Tetra. The intermediate forms are downright ugly, and today's fishfarms go to a lot of trouble to keep the fish in the dark.
Oh, by the way, while most fish have some special pressure-sensory cells located only along the lateral line, these blind fish have them scattered all over their body for an affect similar to 360X360 radar.

There are a number of freshwater dolphins in the world, usually named for their home river, such as the Indus, the Amazon, the la Plata, the Ganges, and the Whitefin. Most of these have some characteristics in common, such as odd colors like tan, yellow or pink, very elongated snouts, and very poor eyesight. Sadly, they also share one more thing in common; they're highly endangered.
On Amazon dolphin, by the way, appeared on an amazon episode of the TV show Survivor, when it happened to pop up for a breath when the camera was rolling during an aerial shot. Maybe you saw it.

The cute little red-tailed catfish sometime seen in stores get quite large, with the record being just a touch under 200 pounds!

The Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola, is one weird critter. Among it's other distinctions, it might hold the record for egg production at 30 million eggs per spawning.

The Lobotids are those fish which have the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins coming together in a way that looks like they're connected, but they aren't. These are the fish like the Datnoids, or Siamese Tiger Fish. Most of these are brackish or freshwater fish, and most of them are from the indo-asian-australian area, but one species, the Tripletail, is a marine fish found over a much wider area. In fact, it is a popular sportfish here in the southeastern USA, and while it's not by any measure pretty, it's remarkably tasty. One of the yummiest fish in the Gulf, in fact.

The Loricariid catfishes are all distinguished by having an "iris flap" which can be raised or lowered at will in response to lighting conditions. It's kind of like these fish have built-in sunglasses.
You've probably seen these fish wink at you on occasion.

However, this winking is not truly a closing of the eyes. Only a very few fish can actually close their eyes. The Blue Shark, for example, along with some others sharks, can actually close their eyes, and they often do just that, squinting them closed when they attack their prey to protect the eyes from defensive attempts by the prey.

[fish_doc]

I want a manta ray for my ten gallon. Where do I get one.

[TheOldSalt]

Of course you were kidding, but sadly, some people aren't when they say the same thing, and some companies are all too happy to take the money of suckers who will buy anything. There are actually places where you can buy these, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Size aside, feeding these things is a royal pain. The Cownosed ray is pretty easy to keep in comparison, since it's not a filter feeder, but the mantas and eagle rays are dedicated planktivores which are pretty difficult to keep alive for more than a week. Those poor guys at the National Aquarium in Baltimore have a never-ending job feeding all those rays in their collection.

[fishfreaks]

wow, cool. tonight we watched this documentary about the oceans and they were talking about a sunfish, 4 meters wide and they come to the surface to let gulls eat the parasites off their skin. i thought that was pretty cool also

[fish_doc]

kind of like the birds that eat the bugs out of the gaders mouth. Or the sucker fish that hitch a ride on the sharks and whales. There is a benefit for both so they tolerate each other to get what they want.

[TheOldSalt]

Hey, Fishfreaks, that sunfish is the very Mola mola I mentioned above in this thread.

Isn't it nifty how some species will work together?

[fishfreaks]

wow, awesome, thanks for pointing that out that one slipped right by me...

[Lexus]

The longfin butterfly Koi is said to have been created from crossing koi with fantail goldfish.

Thats neat and a thing I would have never thought of!

[TheOldSalt]

Me, neither, which I why I phrased it that way. I'm not sure if it's actually true, but that's the rumor. Of course, if it is true, you can bet that the spawning wasn't natural, but done in a lab.

[awesome kid]

they probably got unfertilized koi eggs and put them where the goldfish bred and WALA! some of the koi eggs and goldfish sperm meet and out come a longfin butterfly koi. (a far-fetched theory but it is possible)

[awesome kid]

TheOldSalt
Salmon scales are very reliable "diaries" of the salmon's life. The growth rings can be used to show things like age...

is that kinda like a tree how the more rings it has the older it is?

[TheOldSalt]

Yeah, kinda just like them in many ways.

[fishboy]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

Pennsylavania is home to about 70 species of freshwater clams, many of them endangered.

i live in Pa and walking down the streams you see clams alot which to me is odd because i relate clams to saltwater. i think there are endangered types in a stream near me

[TheOldSalt]

Almost certainly; the truth be told, there are a lot more endangered clams than unendangered ones.

[leveldrummer]

i think most people know this but... the length of your foot is the same as the length of your arm between your wrist and elbow. also each of your fingers (even your thumb) has three segments, the first two (from the tip toward your hand) are equal to the third.

[micstarz]

uhh well my sis eats her boogers... lol

In the Chinise tradition, peeps eat:
Baboon butt
Ox *ahem*
Raw monkey brain
Cow tounge, heart and eyeballs
Toads
Shark Fin
Robin's (as in the bird) Saliva
Supertitios peeple even eat JD's and oscars after they are too big for a 20gal. EVIL!

IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE PEOPLE GO WILD. I DO NOT FOLLOW ANY OF THE ABOVE, ALTHOUGH MY RELATIVES EAT SHARK FIN AND ROBIN'S SALIVA. NOT ALL CHINESE PEOPLE BELEIVE IN THIS EITHER.