Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus briareus) source: wikipediaThe
Coral Reef Fact:
Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus briareus) can change its appearance from crimson to green, and bumpy to smooth.
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Caribbean_Reef_Octopus
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Coral Reef Fact:
Queen conch photo souce: Arkive
Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) can live up to 40 years, but the normal life span is estimated at between 20 and 30 years. Help protect our marine world today donate at http://reefrelief.org/act/donate
Fact source: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/invertebrates/queenconch.htm
Reef Fact:
Queen parrotfish (Scarus vetula)
The queen parrotfish (Scarus vetula) is one of the many parrotfish species that secrete a mucus cocoon before they sleep to help hide their scent from predators.
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Fact source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrotfish
Reef Fact:
The POLKA-DOT BATFISH (Ogcocephalus cubifrons) maybe a slow fish but it has an unique fishing advantage. Below its snout is a fin that has become modified into a moveable spine used to lure prey within striking distance. Join Reef Relief today and help protect our marine world. www.reefrelief.org/act/donate
Fact source: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/Descript/Batfish/Batfish.htm
By Christine Hoekenga. posted www.speakupfortheblue.com
Shark Week on Discovery Channel is winding down, and as the final credits roll for this year’s toothy line-up (including predictable titles like “10 Deadliest Sharks,” “Killer Sharks,” and “When Fish Attack 3”), it’s an excellent moment to reflect on the other reasons to be fascinated by sharks. Sure, many sharks have are impressive hunters with serious teeth, but there are so many other reasons they deserve a dedicated week of programming. Here are just a few of them:
1) No Bones! Sharks, and their evolutionary cousins skates and rays, are in the class of animals that scientists call chondricthyes or “cartilaginous fish.” They don’t have true bones like mammals, birds, or most other fish. Instead their skeletons are made of cartilage—the same flexible material in human ears.
2) Smelling in Stereo – Marine researchers have long known that sharks have a strong sense of smell and are highly skilled at following their noses straight to injured prey. Until recently, scientists believed that sharks used differences in the concentration of blood in the water to determine which direction to swim in search of food. But it turns out that sharks actually chart a course toward lunch by noticing when a smell reaches one nostril before the other. The difference in timing—akin to humans using our stereo hearing to tell where a distant voice is coming from—reliably tells the shark which direction to head.
Coral Reef Fact:
The Cubera Snapper (Lutjanus cyanopterus) is “oviparous, releasing pelagic eggs into offshore waters at spawning aggregation sites.” At these sites hundreds to thousands of fish meet to spawn. “The eggs hatch within a day of fertilization, producing pelagic larvae that are dispersed by the currents.” “Whale sharks are known to feed on freshly released Cubera snapper spawn in waters off Belize.”
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Coral Reef Fact:
photo: wikipedia
The pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) has a mutualistic relationship with sharks, rays and sea turtles. These fish follow the larger creature feeding off of and removing their parasites and eating scrapes from their feeding.
Fact source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_fish#cite_note-2
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Coral Reef Fact:
Photographed by Jan Derk in March 2005 on Bonaire. Wikipedia
Caribbean Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis sepioidea) are 1 of 6 species of “flying squid”. These squid “fly” by expanding their mantle which fills with water. They quickly contract their muscles to expel the water to propel themselves in any direction & sometimes times out of the water if they are startled or fleeing predators.
Fact source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-squid-fly
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Coral Reef Fact:
Spinner Shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) photo: Wikipedia
The spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) is named for its feeding strategy. “When feeding on schools of forage fish, they will speed vertically through the school while spinning on their axis, erupting from the water at the end.” FACT SOURCE: Wikipedia
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Ocean Fact:
Whaoo source:http://fw.dpnr.gov.vi/education/AndyWebPage/MarineLifePages/BonyFishTypes/BarracudasPages.htm
Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) “are among the fastest pelagic” (open ocean)” species (reaching speeds up to 60 mph)”.
FACT SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo
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