Tag Archives: Water

Pufferfish

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Pufferfish

This pufferfish will pop like crazy.

  • ‘Pufferfish’ are also known as ‘puffers’, ‘blowfish’, ‘toadfish’, ‘bubblefish’, ‘balloonfish’, ‘swellfish’, ‘sea squabs’, and ‘globefish’.
  • ‘Pufferfish’ is the common name of the fish that belong to the ‘Tetraodontidae’ family, and are part of the Tetraodontiformes order, which contains fish that are ray-finned.
  • Pufferfish include 19 genera, covering 120 different species, that are mainly found in the tropical oceans, and depending on the species, sometimes in fresh water rivers.
  • Pufferfish expand their stomachs when chased or provoked by inhaling water and air, making them much larger than their normal size.
  • Pufferfish are generally extremely poisonous, often described as the second most poisonous vertebrate, with the deadliest parts being the organs and sometimes skin, which contain the poison tetrodotoxin.

Pufferfish, blowfish, spine, small, deflated, Ten Random Facts, Philippines, Batangas, National Geographic

Pufferfish Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Depending on the species and environment, pufferfish can change their coloured appearance, and most are normally a dull colour.
  • One of the main systems of defence of a pufferfish is it’s rudder like tail and ability to move at quick bursts, even though they generally swim very slowly.
  • Although pufferfish are usually highly toxic, Japanese, Chinese and Korean chefs make carefully prepared special dishes using the meat that is considered a delicacy, however a single mistake in processing can cause fatal poisoning in a consumer.
  • Pufferfish species vary in colour, can be as small as 2.5 cm (1 inch) or can grow up to one metre (three feet) in length, and may have spines or spikes that can be poisonous and not visible unless threatened.
  • Pufferfish are carnivores and mainly consume water creatures, algae, and sometimes shellfish, that they use their tough teeth to crush.
Bibliography: Pufferfish, 2013, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/pufferfish/
Tetraodontidae, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraodontidae

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Clownfish

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Clownfish

The clownfish certainly don’t clown around!

  • Clownfish are fish from the family Pomacentridae, which is also includes the family of damselfish and the scientific name for the fish is ‘Amphiprion’.
  • There are over 25 species of clownfish, that vary in colour and often have stripes and blotches that are yellow, orange, white, red and/or black in colour.
  • Clownfish grow to 10 to 18 centimetres (3.9 to 7.1 inches) in length and can be found in shallow waters and reefs.
  • It is suggested that clownfish are called so because of their bright and patchy or stripey colouring, while others say that the name is derived from its interesting swimming style, where it has a bobbing motion rather than a smooth motion.
  • Clownfish are native to the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific Ocean and are not found in the Mediterranean, Caribbean or the Atlantic Ocean.

Clownfish, Anemonefish, Anemone Orange, White, Black, Colour, Malaysia, two, Ten Random Facts, Coral Reef Alliance

Clownfish
Image courtesy of Steve Turek/Coral Reef Alliance
  • Clownfish live among anemone in a small group, eating zooplankton and other scraps trapped by the stinging creature, and the fish defend their anemone host if it is intruded.
  • Clownfish have a mucus coating that protects the fish from an anemone’s sting.
  • Anemones protect the clownfish, also known as ‘anemonefish’, and provide food and shelter, while the fish cleans the anemone and helps the marine creature  to grow.
  • Clownfish live for 6 to 10 years in the wild and lay 100 to 1000 eggs at one time, which hatch into males after 6 to 10 days.
  • Clownfish are always born males and the strongest male will take an irreversible change into a female, which happens when the female of the school dies.
Bibliography:
Anemonefish, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphiprioninae
Clown Anemonefish, 2013, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/clown-anemonefish/

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Saltwater Crocodile

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Saltwater Crocodile

It is Saltie the Saltwater Crocodile!

  • Saltwater crocodiles are the world’s largest reptiles, growing an average of 3 to 5 meters (10 to 17 feet) in length, depending on the gender, and can grow up to 7 meters (23 feet) long.
  • ‘Saltwater crocodiles’ are also known as ‘salties’, ‘estuarine’ and ‘Indo-Pacific crocodiles’, and their scientific name is crocodylus porosus.
  • Saltwater crocodiles generally weigh between 400 to 1000 kilograms (880 to 2200 pounds) but they can be as heavy as 2000 kilograms (4400 pounds).
  • Saltwater crocodiles are typically found in mangrove swamps, deltas, lagoons, rivers, and estuaries, and can also be found swimming in the ocean, which they sometimes use to travel long distances during different seasons.
  • Saltwater crocodiles are native to South-east Asia, including India, and Australia.

Saltwater, Croc, Saltie, Two Third Body, Swamp, Sun Basking, Yellow Water Billabong, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, Jason Edwards

 

Saltwater Crocodile
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Saltwater crocodiles have vibration-sensing teeth, and their diet generally consists of fish, sharks, reptiles, birds, crustaceans and mammals although they cannot swallow their prey underwater.
  • A saltwater crocodile’s bite is the strongest of all non-extinct animals, as its teeth are designed to hold its prey and prevent it from escaping.
  • Saltwater crocodiles are the most dangerous crocodile, although attacks are not frequent, however there are usually a couple of human fatalities each year.
  • Saltwater crocodiles can lay up to 60 eggs at a time and baby salties are pale yellow in colour with black patterns, while the adults are generally murky green or greenish-black in colour with a pale yellow underbelly.
  • In 1971, 95% of the original Australian saltwater crocodile population had been hunted, commonly for its skin, however the species is now protected in Australia, and the population has recovered.
Bibliography:
Saltwater Crocodile, 2012, Northern Territory Tourism Central, <http://www.nttc.com.au/saltwater-crocodile>
Saltwater Crocodile, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltwater_crocodile>

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Pacific Black Duck

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Pacific Black Duck

Have you seen a pacific black duck’s speculum?

  • Pacific black ducks are dabbling ducks, which are ducks that generally feed on the surface of the water, and poke their head into the water for food, while the back half of the duck remains out of the water.
  • Pacific black ducks are native to most of Australasia and the Pacific islands and parts of Southeast Asia.
  • ‘Pacific black ducks’ are also known as ‘grey ducks’, ‘black ducks’, ‘brown ducks’, ‘wild ducks’, ‘blackies’, ‘Australian wild ducks’ and ‘Parera’, a New Zealand Maori term.
  • Pacific black ducks live in or near ponds, wetlands, lakes or marshes and nest in woven grass, leaves and other foliage, laying 7-13 white eggs.
  • Pacific black ducks are typically dark brown in colour, with a paler head and neck, with distinctive stripes on their face.

Pacific black ducks, Brown, lake, swimming, group, adult, water, lake, Ten Random Facts

  • Pacific black ducks are generally between 50 to 60 centimetres (1.6 to 2 feet) in length, with males generally larger than females.
  • The scientific name of pacific black ducks is Anas superciliosa and they are from the family Anatidae, which is the family of ducks, swans and geese.
  • Pacific black ducks are similar to their introduced cousins, mallards, that the ducks can and do breed with.
  • Pacific black ducks are covered with waterproof oil that the ducks produce, and have a magnificent green speculum (patch on their feathers), which is best seen when the ducks are in flight.
  • Pacific black ducks feed on seeds of aquatic vegetation, shrimps, yabbies, crustaceans and insects, and they will sometimes forage for food on the ground.
Bibliography:
Davis D, Pacific Black Duck, 2013, Wires Northern Rivers, <http://www.wiresnr.org/pacificblackduck.html>
Pacific Black Duck, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Black_Duck>

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Humpback Whale

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Humpback Whale

Humpback whales have bumps and bumps.

  • Humpback whales have long fins and bumpy heads and are warm-blooded baleen whales, which are whales that have baleen, bristle like filtering plates, instead of teeth.
  • The scientific name of a humpback whale is Megaptera novaeangliae and they are from the family Baleanopteridae, or rorquals, which includes nine species of baleen whales.
  • Humpback whales grow up to 12 to 16 meters (39 to 52 feet) in length and weigh up to 36,000 kilograms (79,000 pounds).
  • Humpback whales are typically dark blue to black, but white or grey whales are possible, although only two fully white humpback whales have ever been spotted.
  • Humpback whales are known for their unexplained surfacing behaviour, where you can see them jumping out of the water, which includes movements like breaching, spyhopping and lobtailing, making them popular among whale watchers.
Whale, Humpback, Leaping, Blue, Spray, Ocean, Mexico, Marias Island, Breaching, Animal, One, Ten Random Facts, National Geographic
Humpback Whale
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Male humpback whales can sing complex songs, believed to be possibly used during mating, which are often 10 to 20 minutes long, but the singing can last for hours, and both the female and male use clicks, groans, grunts, barks, snorts and thwops, by pushing air through their airways.
  • Humpback whales are found in most parts of the ocean around the world, migrating up to 25,000 kilometres (16,000 miles) in a year towards the equator to have their young in winter, although they are believed to never go pass the equator.
  • Humpback whales only feed in summer, on small fish, krill and plankton, and live on their own fat in winter.
  • Before 1966, an estimated total of 200,000 or 90% of the humpback whale population had been whaled, causing them to come close to extinction, which was halted by whaling bans.
  • Every humpback whale has a unique marking on its tail fluke make it distinguishable among other whales.
Bibliography:
Humpback Whale, 2010, Enchanted Learning, <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Humpbackwhale.shtml
Humpback Whale, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale>

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Blood

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Blood

Blood is thicker than water…

  • Blood is a liquid solution that every animal or person needs that transports oxygen, nutrients for cells, and body waste in the body.
  • Blood contains mainly 55% plasma, which is mainly water, white blood cells and 45% red blood cells.
  • Blood is pumped throughout the body by the heart muscle, and blood vessels burst if they are hurt or cut, which is called ‘bleeding’.
  • Often blood terms use the prefixes ‘haemo-’ or ‘haemato-’, which comes from the Greek word for blood, ‘haima’, such as ‘haematology’, the study of blood.
  • Blood makes up 7 to 8% of the weight of a human’s body and is little denser than water.

Blood, Small, Cut, Prick, Finger, Ten Random Facts, Adult, Women,

  • Human blood is always red, due to the protein haemoglobin, although animal’s blood can be blue or green, but deoxygenated blood is a darker red, even though some people think it is blue, which is the way it is often depicted in diagrams.
  • ‘Blood’ comes from the word ‘bluot’, which is an Old High German word for blood.
  • A healthy adult has approximately 5 litres (1.3 gallons) of blood circulating in their body, although their will generally be less blood in someone who is dehydrated, since the water in the fluid is diminished.
  • Blood forms in the bone marrow, typically in the leg bones in children and in the spine and central bones in adults.
  • Only a few animals drink blood for nutrients, and these include female mosquitoes, ticks, leeches and vampire bats.
Bibliography:
Blood, 2013, Kids Health, <http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/blood.html>
Blood, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood>


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