August 18, 2020

Fish are fascinating creatures. Some are big, some are small, some you can eat, and some are poisonous. 32,000 different species of fish and most are cold-blooded. Interestingly, Fish come in many different shapes and sizes of fish too. There are long snake-like fish such as Lampreys and Eels. There are common and edible fish such as Tuna and Flounder. There are three categories of fish I will be talking about: Weird Fish or Deep Sea Fish, Big Fish, and Common Fish.  

Sharks, and Killer Whales are two of the most well known “Big Fish.” Sharks have a great sense of smell. Amazingly, if some sharks stop moving, they will drown, while other sharks can rest at the sea floor. Most sharks live on coastlines near where people swim. Great White Sharks can be 20-feet long and weigh 7,000 pounds. The Great White Shark is tiny compared to the Whale Shark. Which can grow up to 40-feet long and weigh 50,000 pounds! The Whale Shark is not only the hugest shark it’s the hugest of all fish! Tiger Sharks are more common sharks. They go even closer to the shore than other sharks. Surprisingly, the Killer Whale is actually classified as a Dolphin. Another name for it is the Orca. At 20 feet long and weighing 12,000 pounds the Orca is a giant compared to the Great White. The Killer Whale is usually passive to humans and it got its name from killing other animals. 

Lampreys, Hagfish, Sunfish, Barreleye, Angler Fish, Fangtooth, and Giant squid are all weird or deep sea creatures. Hagfish also known as Slime Eels are disgusting animals. They produce a great amount of goo. They are only 20 inches long. Lampreys are also eel-like and  suck the blood of other fish. Horribly, if you look closely at a whale you will see scars from the times Lampreys were latched on to them. Ocean Sunfish are the most immense bony fish in the world. It can weigh 3,500 pounds. Being part of the food chain, Sunfish allow smaller fish to eat parasites on them while the Barreleye is a deep-sea fish with a transparent head. The angler fish lives two miles below the surface. Ironically, the angler fish fishes other fish by using a rod that extends from its head. The Fangtooth has massive teeth which are relative to its body size. They’re found three miles below the surface. The Giant Squid is a 43 foot long squid found in the dark abyss of the ocean. Before 2012 it was never seen in the bottom of the sea but was discovered dead on the shore. However the exception was when the French Navy spotted a giant squid in 1861. The Sperm Whale goes on the surface and deep down in the ocean. On Sperm Whales sometimes there are scars from having fights with Giant Squids. The Colossal squid is the most massive squid and is 46 feet long! 

Pufferfish, Tuna, and Flatfish are common fish or well-known fish. Pufferfish are dangerously poisonous and eating one can cause injury or maybe death. There are 15 different tuna species. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is the largest tuna in the world. At 15 feet long and can weighing up to 1,500 pounds. The most extensive fish and seafood market in the world is the Tsukiji Market where they have bids almost every day to buy Tuna. Flounder, Halibut, and Turbot are Flatfish. Halibut inhabits the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Turbot live in shallow waters in the Baltic and Mediterranean Sea. They are all great to eat and taste delicious. 

No matter what they look like, all fish are Wet, wild, and wonderful. There are still many undiscovered fish that we still don’t know about.