Trival mismash number two

[TheOldSalt]

There are about 4500 species of true crabs. Some like Blue Tree Crabs routinely climb trees. Some, like the Mole Crab, are filter feeders. The Ghost Crab is well known for it's habit of burying itself in the sand, with only it's massive eyes poking up to be seen. Christmas Island is renowned for it's massive breeding swarms of bright red crabs numbering in the millions. One Blind Crab lives only at the depths of the sea near hydrothermic vents about 1.6 miles deep. Bythograea thermydron gets it's name from this environment, bythos meaning bottom and therm meaning heat.

Speaking of deep sea stuff, the Sperm Whale has been tracked making dives even deeper than that! 10,500 feet is the record, a dive which took two hours to complete. Can you imagine holding your breath for two hours?

While many people like the popular solid white Koi, they are despised in their native Japan. White koi are generally culled or shipped off to live with "those of lesser taste" in other countries.

Freshwater sponges aren't all that common worldwide, but one west african fish has developed a preference for them. The Golden Pungu Cichlid, from Camaroon's Lake Barombi Mbo, is very unique in that it's otherwise big, soft lips have little teeth on them which are very useful for tearing off chunks of sponge.

A fish said to be rheophilic, or known as a rheophilus, is one which lives in very swift waters. Rhea = fast, phile = lover of.

The Atherinidids, or Silversides, had long been considered kin to the mullets, but are now considered by most to be Killifishes!

Sea turtles are well known for living well over a century, but what's not genberally known is that they don't reach sexual maturity until they are a bit over 30.

Elodea or Anacharis or Erigera, the taxonomists can argue about which one is correct.
Elodea comes from a greek word, helodes, which means "living in marshes." ( Eh-LO-dee-ah )
Anacharis is usually mispronounced as "an-ACK-are-iss" but that is incorrect. It is actually pronounced an-ah-CARE-iss. The name means "not without beauty." An =without, a- not, charis = beauty. Anacharis is usually recognized as being invalid, so now I'll switch to Eloda or Erigera when i mention the E in the foloowing species:
E. densa - densely packed. refers to the leaves' arrangement
E. canadensis - Comes from Canada. "ensis" means "coming from." Of course, it's found in a much greater area than Canada, but it was first described there, hence the name.
E nuttalii - named for someone named Nuttal
E. callitrichoides ( kal-lih-trih(not try)-KOY-deez ) Calli = beautiful, tricha =- hairs, oides = resembling. Callitrichoides = resembling beautiful ( braided ) hair

With over 1600 species, the Cyprinidae are the largest family of fishes. These are the carps and minnows.
The USA has about 230 of these, with China having some 690.
By the way, these fish share some things in common with the catfishes. First there are the barbels, or whiskers. next there is the Weberian Apparatus. This is a peculiar assembly which connects the swimbladder and inner ear together in such a way as to allow the fish to have a strong sense of pressure. This allows them to feel barometric pressure and water pressure to a much greater degree than other fish, and it allows them to detect things floating in the water by feel and by "silent sound." It's kinda like a "spidey sense" if that helps, or a passive sonar system. Many fishes in these two groups are very, very picky about the habitats they inhabit and the water currents and weather when they're spawning.

One Cichlid, Aequidens coeruleopunctatus ( means blue spotted ) has a very peculiar spawning habit. This cichlid's courting behavior involves the female selecting a preferred leaf from the bottom and dragging it back and forth in front of the male. Eventually she drops the leaf in a good spot and the eggs are laid on it. When danger looms, the leaf nest is simply picked up and carried to safety.

Sea Snakes have no ability to regulate the amount of venom injected in a bite. They simply unload all they have handy.

There are at least nine species of Hammerhead Sharks. These are considered modern sharks, since they've only been around for 120 million years, and are the newcomers to the group. Their peculiar heads let them pack a lot of extra sensory organs in them, and the shape also acts as a dive plane, helping them swim. One freshwater species from South America is called the Golden Hammerhead. This is a very small species, only 2 or 3 feet long, and as the name suggests, it is a gorgeous yellow color. ( Very rare and horriffically expensive, don't even bother. ) Hammerheads are known for the massive schools they form at breeding time, with thousands of sharks sometimes clustered together. However, they are noramlly solitary during the rest of the year just like any other shark, except one. The Scalloped Hammerhead is always found in schools of around 100 or so, and no one is sure just why after decades of study. This is the only shark to exhibit this behavior.

The Scat fish, Scatophagus argus, is a prized food fish in Austrailia. However, since no one wants to consider how the scat got it's name which means "100-eyed dung eater," the Scat is sold under the name of "Spotted Butterfish. "
You don't even wanna KNOW what a "Chilean Sea Bass" really is.

The first photgraph of a living fish was taken at the London Aquarium 1n 1853. That Aquarium, incidentally, was the world's first public aquarium known to history.

The Keys Killifish, from the Florida Keys, is Rivulus marmoratus. This fish is one of those few which is unisexual. These are self-fertilizing hermaphrodites. One rare occasion an actual male is born, but the fishes are normally "female."

[Imbrium]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt While many people like the popular solid white Koi, they are despised in their native Japan. White koi are generally culled or shipped off to live with "those of lesser taste" in other countries.

Maybe it's because white symbolizes death and/or mourning in Japan?

[TheOldSalt]

Hmm... hadn't thought of that. Good theory.

[Lexus]

I love white koi, silver and gold, they sell for a premium around here!

[micstarz]

yes, in alot of asian cultures (including the chinese folk religion in HK) white is the color of death, bad luck etc. When I wore white to my grandpa's place the other day, i received a good, thourough yelling because my grandparents thought I wanted them to die.

[TheOldSalt]

How did this thread get moved? Oh well, not important. More mishmashes coming soon!

[Dana and Jay]

Have a friend who makes a good profit saving pure white dogs from Oriental breeders and then selling them to good loving homes

[TheOldSalt]

Wow.

Isn't it strange that Black is our death color, yet still very popular?

[leveldrummer]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt Wow. Isn't it strange that Black is our death color, yet still very popular?

i think thats the reason it IS popular, many people around here (me included) where black because it "looks tough" or whatever you call it.

[flamingo]

Dang, learned some stuff there.

I was thinking white was bad because white or albino animals have every low survival rates in the wild or something like that, white like a deformity or something not the color of death lol. It is kinda funky how white is death there, here white's usually something good, black is evil, white is good.