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FISH

• Lampreys are jawless fish.  They have smooth, eel-like bodies and jawless suckers with bony teeth.
• Swordfish live in tropical oceans.  They are unusual because of the long pointed sword at the end of their head. The sword is used as a weapon when they are hunting.   Swordfish could weigh as much as 1,500 pounds.
• Angler fish live in the ocean depths. They have bigh heads and mouths. Many have a luminous organ on their heads.  This acts as bait to attract the fish they like to eat.
• Flygunards leap out of the water and fly along above the surface for a few yards. They usually do this to escape a predator.
• Mudskippers live in swamps, estuaries, and mud flats in the tropics. They walk on land using their pectoral fins.
• Hatchet fish beat their fins quickly and propel themselves along the water with their deep chests for about 40 feet.
• Japanese moray eels spend most of their days hidden in crevices with just their heads poking out.  Despite their reputation for being savage, they usually bite humans only if provoked.
• Pirahnas live together in shoals.  They have short powerful jaws with razor sharp teeth. They feed as a group. A feeding frenzy may be set off by blood in the water. A victim can be eaten up in just a few minutes.
• Manta rays and sting rays can grow to enormous sizes. The Atlantic devil ray is the largest of all the living species.  It can weigh up to 2 tons.
• Electric rays spend mostof their time drowsing peacefully on the seafloor.  But when they are hungry they wake up and blast the fish around them with a strong electric shock. The fish are stunned and easy to catch.
• Porcupine fish normally keep their spines flat against their bodies. But when in danger, they puff themselves up into a ball measuring almost three feet across. Their spines stand erect and predators are afraid to come near.
• Tiny cleaner fish apparantly risk their lives inside the mouths of bigger fish. But it is not as dangerous as it looks.  The cleaner fish eat parasites and damaged tissue inside. Both fish benefit since one gets a meal and the other gets a clean up!
• Anemone clown fish live safely among the poisonous tentacles of the sea anemone. They are immune to the anemone poison and are safe from predators.
• Scorpion fish have flaps, projections, spines, and folds on their bodies that make them look like rocks on the sea bottom where they live. Many species are highly poisonous.
• Many species of catfish have long whiskers called barbels. Barbels are very sensitive and help the fish locate food on the sea floor.
• Sardines are part of the herring family. They live in dense schools and feed along the coasts in seas and oceans around the world. While their shoaling habits are a defence against predators, it makes them easy prey for fishermen's nets.
• Seahorses swim in an upright position. They use their dorsal fin to propel themselves through the water. At breeding time, the female lays eggs near the male's tail. After about 10 months, a brood of tiny transparent seahorses hatch.
• Although it looks different, the pipet fish is a close relative of the sea horse. It has the same tube-like snout.  Its body is covered in armor. The male also has a pouch near the tail in which the female lays her eggs. Color and pattern vary according to species to help the fish blend into their environment.
• Plankton are for organisms that drift in the water.  They are very important because many fish, birds, and mammals feed them.

Sharks

The Great White Shark

What they look like

• Shaped like a torpedo. Females reach up to 26 feet. Males reach up to 18 feet.
• Great white sharks sometimest weigh  over 2,500 pounds
• Named for its large white underbelly, the great white shark is mostly a   blue gray.

Where they live

Found in tropical and temperate oceans around the world

Food

Great white shark eat crabs, shellfish, squid, other sharks, and bony fish. The larger great whites eat porpoises.

Tiger Sharks

Tiger sharks will eat nearly anything in the water. The tiger shark's eyes are large and allow it to see in dim water. Tiger sharks have a large mouth with 18-26 teeth per row. The teeth are sharp.

Where they live.

Tiger sharks are found in temperate and tropical waters, bays, and lagoons.

Food

They eat bony fish, other sharks, stingrays, sea snakes, and dolphins. They have a good sense of smell. They can locate their injured prey. Shark can sense electric fields from prey. An electric field is a signal injured animals give off. The shark's keen sense helps it locate injured prey.

Birth

They have large litters from 10 to 82 pups! Their young hatch from eggs and are fed by a yolk sac inside their mother.

Attacks on Humans

The tiger shark is one of the most dangerous sharks to humans. Tiger sharks have less reported kills than the great white shark.

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