Flying Gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans)
When alarmed, the flying gurnard spreads its large pectoral fins in order to frighten off predators. Despite its name, the fish cannot glide out of water.
Beckmannjan on Wikimedia Commons
Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto)
Australian Ghost Shark (Callorhinchus milii)
Also known as the Elephant Shark, Makrepe and the plownose chimaera, the Australian ghost shark is a species of chimaera ( a type of cartilaginous fish) found off of Southern Australia and parts of New Zealand. As its common name suggests the elephant shark has a long snout which resembles a trunk or a plow, this snout is used as a probe to aid the chimaera in finding small invertebrates and fish that are hidden in the sediment. Recently, the elephant shark genome has been proposed to be sequenced as a model species for the cartilaginous fish, as it has a small genome size and could help understand the evolution of early vertebrates.
Phylogeny
Animalia-Chordata-Chondrichthyes-Holocephalia-Chimaeriformes-Callorhinchidae-Callorhinchus-milii
Even shrimp can get parasites
Silke Baron on Flickr
Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)
Striped bass, or rockfish, is a large, predatory fish with dark stripes across its silvery sides. Usually grows to about 20 in long and weighs about 30 lbs, but some can be as long as 6 feet and weigh as much as 125 lbs. Considered to be semi-anadromous because most do not travel all the way from the ocean to their spawning grounds in freshwater rivers (though they do migrate in to fresh water)…
(read more: Chesapeake Bay Program)
(photo: D Ross Robertson/LifeDesks)
Prowfish (Zaprora silenus). Alaska, Kodiak. 2005. found in the North Pacific, this fish grows to a little over 1 m. Found primarily on the sea bottom in shallow coastal areas, their diet consists principally of scyphozoans and salps; although prowfish also use their large mouths to tear chunks from the bells of jellyfish and ctenophores.
Photographer: David Csepp, NMFS/AKFSC/ABL.
Catshark
Also known as dogfish, catsharks are a family of ground sharks consisting of over 150 species. Their name comes from their feline-like eyes. Most species are small, growing no longer than 80 cm.
Daniel Kwok on Flickr
