DID YOU KNOW?

1. Ocean Park Hong Kong

WWF Hong Kong and Ocean Park recommend the public to help conserve Napoleon Wrasse (Mameng). Cyanide is typically used to catch fish for this trade because live fish are difficult to take any other way; a practice that devastates coral reefs by taking the following actions:
1) Avoid consumption of threatened species e.g. Napoleon Wrasse
2) Change to consume hatchery-reared live reef fish such as Green Grouper and Mangrove snapper, whenever possible
3) Avoid consuming immature wild-caught reef fish
4) Do Not patronize restaurants that serve Napoleon wrasse and discourage others from doing so.
5) Tell your friends about this conservation message

2. Saltwater

Every gallon of natural saltwater weighs about 6-10 pounds as compared to freshwater whose gallon weighs around 4-5 pounds. This is the reason why stands for your tanks should be planned with an expert. A faulty, uneven or incompatible stand will cause the tank to rupture, leading to possible human injury, livestock loss and a great deal of mess.

3. Angelfish

Most Angelfishes change their patterns and colors drastically as they grow from juvenile to adult.

4. Tang

The young of (Mimic or Chocolate Tang) Acanthurus pyroferus display a nearly faultless imitation of (lemonpeel angelfish) Centropyge flavissima and (herald’s angelfish) C. heraldi. The mimicry is strictly confined to the juvenile stage. Once the surgeons grow beyond the maximum limit reached by the angelfishes, they begin to assume the very different adult color.

5. Butterflyfishes

Butterflyfishes can go on a “hunger - strike” abruptly.

Butterflyfishes can change colors at night. The usual transformation is the appearance of darker splodges over parts of the body.

6. CITES

Pipefishes, Seahorses, Giant clams, Marine turtles, Dolphins, Porpoises, Whales, Dugong (Manatees), Sea cucumbers, Blue corals, Organ-pipe corals, Black corals, Stony corals, Lace corals and fire coral are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

7. Moorish Idol's

The Moorish Idol’s name comes from the word “Moro” pertaining to the
Mohammedans. It can dive to a depth of 600 feet which may also be the
Reason why the people of Amboyna, Mohammedans showed respect for
It.

8. Clownfish or Anemones fish

A clownfish will not go into the anemone supplied for it from time to time and the reasons are not fully understood. Patience is necessary as they usually take up residence eventually.

Clownfishes may or may not like to be kept in schools. Clownfishes are very territorial and may resent the presence of other clownfish in the same tank, leading to fights that may cause death. Otherwise, some clownfishes may live happily in groups.Anemonefishes don’t get stung by their host anemones. The accepted explanation is that they are not stung because they have a protective agent in the mucus that coats their bodies. How they grew this protective coating can be answered by two theories. The first one suggests that during several hours of
“acclimatization” swimming, the fish smears mucus from the anemones onto its body. Because this mucus prevents the anemone from stinging itself, it will like likewise protect the anemonefish. The second states that the mucus coating of anemonefishes lacks the component that stimulates anemones to fire nematocysts or “stinging capsules”.

Some clownfishes have been kept in captivity in excess of 3-5 years.

9. Angelfishes and Butterflyfishes

Angelfishes and Butterflyfishes are known for their long life span. It has
recorded that angelfishes such as Pomacanthus navarchus and P. Xanthometopon can live up to 26 years, while butterflyfishes such as Chaetodon ephippium can live for up to 25 years.

10. Change Genders

It is normal for fishes to change genders. One example are the Clownfishes which begin life as males and remain so as long as a female is present in the host anemone. If the female is lost, the dominant male changes to a female and undergoes a spurt of growth.

11. Peppermint Angel

The Peppermint Angel is retailed in Japan for 1.4 million yen or about $14,000 or PhP 574,000. First collected in depths of around 100 meter or 328 feet. After surfacing the collector could not recall collecting the fish only minutes before, so severe the effects of nitrogen narcosis.

12. Whale Shark

The largest of all fishes is the Whale Shark or Rhincodon typus. It is common to see whale sharks between 4m to 12m in length but this species can grow up to a length of 18m.

13. Pistol Shrimp

Pistol Shrimp and watchman gobies live together mutually in captivity. watchmangobies act as guards to the shrimps’ living places while shrimps act as diggers for their hiding places. When danger threatens, the goby flicks its tail, just once if danger is not too great. Several flicks means that the shrimp had better retreat deep into the tunnel, and goby follows right after.

14. Deepest Living Fish

The deepest-living fish is a species of cuskeel (family Ophidiidae) called Abyssobrotula galatheae. It has been collected from Puerto Rico Trench at a depth of 8,370 m or 27,445 feet and was 20 cm long.

15. Smallest and lightest Fish

The smallest and lightest fish species is the Stout Infantfish which is also the world’s smallest vertebrate. The largest caught specimen of this species is only 8.4 mm in length. It can only be found in the Lizard Island area, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

16. Fastest Fish

The fastest species of fish is believed to be the Indo-Pacific Sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus. Its record is over 110km/h (68mph) within short periods.

17. Seahorses

Male seahorses are the ones who give birth to their young. The female seahorse deposits eggs within the male’s abdominal pouch where they are fertilized and kept safely until birth.

18. Lionfish

Lionfishes’ rays are tipped with venom and are capable of inflicting a very painful wound. If a person is stung by a lionfish, you should immerse the sting in hot water to coagulate the venom. Then pour vinegar or alcohol over the wound to ease the pain. If stung by only one or two rays, most adults should be able to withstand the pain. However, there is a slight danger that the person will be allergic to the poison (the likelihood is increased if they are already allergic to bee or wasp stings). If an allergic reaction is suspected, rush the patient to a casualty department.

19. Porcupinefishes

The inflation of porcupinefishes is a defense mechanism and there is no limit as to how many times it can inflate then deflate. However, it is fatal for porcupinefishes to inflate at the surface as it is likely to ingest air. Because air can be difficult to expel, the fish floats and cannot leave the surface. This may eventually lead to its death. If the fish inflates under water, it ingests only water and easily deflates once the danger has passed.

Porcupinefishes are known to be a delicacy in Japan. Proper cleaning methods are needed to remove all the poisonous elements from this fish.

20. Parrotfishes

Parrotfshes are named as such because of their teeth which are fused into a parrot-like beak. In addition to jaw teeth, they have specialized pharyngeal teeth located in the “throat” which grinds food. Because they fed on algae and the calcerous coral upon which it grows, these pharyngeal teeth breaks the algal cell to release the contents for digestion and reduces the coral to a paste.
Parrotfishes sleep in a mucus bubble so nighttime hunters cant smell them and becoming their prey.

21. Tongue of Fish

Most fishes have tongues but do not resemble the muscular tongues of humans. The tongue of a fish is formed from a fold in the floor of the mouth. However, most fishes cannot protrude their tongue, except for lampreys which has horny teeth and is used to rasp flesh from it prey.
Some species such as the genus of argentinid fish, Glossanodon, meaning “tongue teeth”, have teeth on their tongues to help hold their prey.

22. Moray eels

Moray eels are short-sighted and rely on a very developed sense of taste to detect prey. They lunge forward, drawing streams of water to taste the scent of anything nearby.

23. Scales

Not all fishes have scales. An example of scaleless species is the clingfishes family. Their bodies are protected by a thick layer of mucous.

24. Powder Blue Tang

The Powder Blue Tang manifests stress through its head color. When relaxed, its head is colored grayish to white, while when stressed, it turns to a dark black.

25. Nautiluses

Nautiluses, which require extremely cold water conditions, possess a gas-filled chambered external shell. They have around 100 arms which lack suckers. The simple eye acts like a pinhole camera. It lacks a lens and is open to the seawater. During the day they rest around 300-400 meters deep ( 984-1,312 feet) on these reef faces, waiting for dark before rising up into shallower waters to forage. Nautiluses appear to feed mainly on hermit and other crabs.

26. Triggerfishes

Triggerfishes are named as such because they have a dorsal fin spine that can be locked into an erect position.

This is made possible by a ball and socket "trigger-like" mechanism. The base of the second spine slots into a groove in the first spine. The locking mechanism is released when the second spine is depressed.