Of the many fish of the sea, none is more interesting and unique than the seahorse. Seahorses are truly one of a kind in more ways than one. They can be found in temperate and tropical bodies of water throughout the world. With a tail similar to that of a monkey, fins that rememble those of a fish and a head that resemble a horse this animal is extraordinary. Along with those characteristics seahorses are known mostly for their odd method of conception and pregnancy. Seahorses are monogamous and one of the only species where the male is the one to become pregnant.
The incredible fish are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Gasterosteiformes, family Syngnathidae, and the genus Hippocampus (Michael, 1999). Seahorses belong to the Syngnathidae, a teleost family whose oldest fossils date back to the Eocene (Ahnesjö & Craig, 2011). The family also includes the pygmy pipehorses (grouped with seahorses in the subfamily Hippocampinae), pipehorses and sea- dragons (Solegnathinae), flag-tail pipefishes (Doryrhamphinae), and pipefishes (Ahnesjö & Craig, 2011). The genus name Hippocampus comes from two Greek words; hippos meaning horse and campus meaning monster. There are collectively 35 species of seahorses but only 3 have been observed.
The three species that have been observed in the Atlantic Ocean are the Hippocampus erectus (The Lined Seahorse), Hippocampus zosterae (The Dwarf Seahorse), and the Hippocampus reidi (The Longsnout Seahorse). The Hippocampus erectus is one of two species native to the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. It comes in multiple colors, olive-brown, yellow, or orange, and has large pale blotches and dark lines that run down the length of its back. Some have large ...
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Seahorses have proven to be amazing animals with a plethora of characteristics that make them truly one of a kind. Seeing one in the wild is rare and they are becoming harder and harder to find due to increasing demand by humans and destruction of they’re habitats.
Amanda Vincent and Project Seahorse have introduced new sustainable methods. Fishermen out of nets build the grow-out cages and the seahorses that are caught are placed in the cages for five months, in which time they grow and reproduce. When the male releases the young they escape through the nets and repopulate wild regions. Teaching fishermen to spare the male seahorses, at least until they have given birth, ensures that future generations have a chance of survival. The only hope we have to saving these beauties is to decrease human intrusion and stopping the destruction of their habitats.
The Sea Shepherds are group of volunteers who try to protect the sea animals, and capture criminals who kill the animals without permits. Their website has many purposes, one dedicate to collect donations from the reader. Furthermore, they want to protect the ocean wildlife. The website audience includes people who want to protect the ocean, and they want to save the sea animals which will likely be extinct. They offer the audience a chance to donate, volunteer, and stay up to date with ongoing issues involving marine life. This website is outstanding because the sea shepherds host a successful website that effectively reaches out to the audience through appealing to the reader's emotions, logic, and credibility.
In the past twenty years a large amount of bottlenose dolphin have been killed due to the tuna fishery. In the Eastern Pacific swim large schools of tuna, these shoals tend to be under herds of dolphins, for some unexplained reason. Because of this, fishermen can easily find schools of tuna. The tuna are being caught under purse seine nets, which encircles the shoals of tuna and then is pulled back on board the fishing vessel, catching both tuna and dolphin. Initially the mortality rate was 500,000 each year for dolphins alone. Although some efforts are made to encourage the dolphins to leave the net by backing down part of the net, which allows the dolphins to escape, there are still a large number of mortalities (Bryant). On the other hand, in the last few years there has been dramatic progress in stopping the fishing industries from using purse sine nets. It has been found that dolphins are in immediate danger of extinction if these fishing techniques don’t stop.
Striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba, are some of the most abundant and well-known dolphins in the world. These dolphins can reach the length of about 9 ft (2.7 m). The males weigh up to 350 lbs (160 kg). The females weigh 330 lbs (150 kg). Striped dolphins have a slender body shape combined with a long beak, which is separated from their forehead, and they also have a curved dorsal fin. The beak, tapered flipper, tail, and back, or cape, are dark blue/gray. The name “Stenella coeruleoalba” refers to the pattern of blue and white stripes along the lateral and dorsal fins of their body. Their underbelly (ventral) is usually white. Their primary feature is a black stripe that runs along their full length and to their flippers. There is also a dark blue patch around the eyes. Calves and juveniles may have more muted colorations and patterns.
Save the World: Save the sea otters During the 18th and 19th centuries, sea otters were hunted for their luxurious pelts, and by the early 1900s, the species was believed to be extinct in California. (Carswell) Why do we care you ask, well not only are they super cute and eat with their hands. Apparently, a healthy population of sea otters keeps the sea urchin population in check. An unhealthy or small population of sea otters allows the sea urchin’s number to explode thus decimating kelp beds, which is the sea urchin’s food source, and causing a “chain reaction that depletes the food supply for other marine animals consequently causing their decline.
In 2000, Dr. Philip D. Gingerich, a paleontologist from the University of Michigan, and his associates discovered two primitive whale fossils in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. By dating the limestone located in the Habib Rahi Formation of the Balochistan Province, Gingerich estimated these fossils to be about 47 million years old. According to author David Braun of National Geographic News, “The researchers have classified one, Rodhocetus balochistanensis, as a new species of an existing genus, and the other, Artiocetus clavis, as a new species and new genus” (Braun, 5). The discovery of these two fossils suggests that the closest living relative of these primitive whales could possibly be the modern day hippopotamus. This suggested relationship is based on similarities in the bone structure between the two animals.
Seaworld is a giant marine life theme park. The greatest attraction to these many theme park would be those killer whales. In fact, these killer whales are the face of the park. As gigant as these mammals are, seaworld is keeping them in some pretty tight quarters. Mr. Jett and Mr.Ventre says “Wild killer whales can swim a hundred miles daily as they socialize, forage, communicate, and breed. In stark contrast, with little horizontal or vertical space in their enclosures, captive orcas swim only limited distances, with most spending many hours surface resting.” The animals don't have the freedom they need. Also when taking the whales out of their natural habit the whales tend to be depressed and not as heath in that situation. They need their freedom in the big ocean blue. Bring them into the small living units, breeding whales in captivity all for the entertainment of humans. At young ages the calves are taken away from their mothers on to a new seaworld park. Mothers of the calves have even been seen denying their offspring.
With a coastline of over 202 000 km and over a fourth of the world’s freshwater resources, it is no wonder why Canada’s fishing industry is a huge part of its economy.1 Canada exports more than 75% of its fish to over 130 countries worldwide. Many of the 7 million people who reside on the coast depend on the ocean’s resources. In total, Canada’s entire fishing industry is worth around 5$ billion dollars a year, being one of the world’s most valuable. However, the coasts have not been treated by respect; overfishing, over consumption, and wasteful practices has deteriorated, not only the industry, but the ecosystems and fish populations. This is a huge global issue; the worldwide collapse of fisheries has been project for 2048. Slowly, as the trends continue, we will inevitably see many fish species start to disappear. In fact, the ill-treatment of species on the Canadian border has already devastated a large specie, the cod.
In the science realm, horses are classified as animals in the opisthokont category of the unikont clade. Horses are mammals. They are non-ruminant herbivores or hind-gut fermenters; this means that “Their main and often exclusive source of food is plants” (Huntington).
A way to identify a fish is by their body structure, they have fins and a backbone. The anatomical adaptation of fins helps them survive and makes them and marine animal unique in that they use them to maintain their position, move, steer, and stop. Most fish have scales and breathe though gills. Most fish also have a mucus layer that helps them prevent infections. With in what we consider “fish,” there are many that don’t very much look like they are earth creatures. The strangest fish species are found in deep ocean waters, such as the Pacific Barreleye, which is distinctive in that, its head is a fluid-filled transparent shield. Among other strange looking fish there are the Sheepshead and the Parrotfish
The morphology of whale sharks is mostly similar to aquatic fish species, but many specific traits help differentiate them from the rest. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world and can reach a size of around 20 meters (Martins, C., and C. Knickle). This is often compared to the size of a school bus. The shark has a very large transverse mouth. They have 5 very large gill slits and have a larger first dorsal fin compared to the second one (Whale Shark). They have a distinctive spotted “checkerboard” pattern with stripes (Martins, C., and C. Knickle). It is not exactly known why they have this specific body marking. It is believed that the body markings act as a camouflage. The strange thing about whale sharks is that they have 300 rows of teeth that play no role in feeding (Martins, C., and C. Knickle).
Did you know that more than 90 percent of all organisms that have ever lived on Earth are extinct? According to Pandey, the author of Humans Pushing Marine Life toward ‘Major Extinction’, nearly 10,000 species go extinct each year, and this rate is estimated to be 1,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate (1). Human beings are causing irreversible damage to the oceans and their wildlife, which is being led by two major reasons: Commercial fishing or over-fishing, which damaged the marine environment and caused a loss in the marine life diversity, and pollution, which is a primary way of the extinction causes that drastically modifies the marine life habitat. As a result of the commercial fishing and pollution, many of the marine species will start disappearing of the oceans. Briggs emphasizes that over-fishing “has induced population collapses in many species. So instead of having less than a hundred species at risk, as was the case some 30-40 years ago, there are now a thousand or more (10).”
Lotze, Heike K., Marta Coll, Anna M. Magera, Christine Ward-Paige, and Laura Airoldi. "Recovery of Marine Animal Populations and Ecosystems." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26.11 (2011): 595-605. Print.
The common hippo has toes that can easily move around in water and on land! Each of their feet has four hoofed toes that have webbed feet. Those webbed feet between each toe can use for simple movements in the water. With this animal it can be able to move around and ease through land and water. Adult hippos can hold their breath underwater up to 6 minutes. They also have a large head but very short legs. They have small ears but very huge teeth. Did you know that the nostrils that they use for breathing are located at the top of the head? Wow who knew that?
Did you know in the world there are more than 90 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises? (WDC) The dolphin is a very important animal to the ocean and there are many different types to discover. In order to learn about dolphins, it is important to discuss where they live, their appearance, and what they eat. Some helpful words to understand are “dorsal fin”, a dorsal fin is the top pointed fin on the dolphins back, “flippers”, a flipper is a flat fin that dolphins use to swim, and “echolocation” is a tool dolphins use to find food by sounds bouncing off of objects (dictionary.com).
Ichthyologists say that there are more than 32,000 species of fishes discovered on Earth so far which is more than all the amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals combined. Still, new species are being discovered almost every day. Large areas beneath the ocean surface still remain unexplored. It is predicted that there might be more species of fish which are hidden from the eyes of humans till now. All fish differ in sizes. A fish can be as big as a 51 ft long Whale/Shark or as small as an 8mm Stout infant fish. Common type of fish include; gold-fish, Drum, Spadefish, Trout, Skate, Thalla, Tuna, Hogfish, Wahoo, Grunt, Monkfish, Roughy etc. Some organisms which are considered to be a fish actually do not fall into the category of fish. Examples include; shellfish, cuttlefish, starfish, crayfish and jellyfish.