Marine Creature of the Month: Famous Fish Overview

As Famous Fish has drawn to a natural close, I thought it would be fun to have a quick look at all the famous fishies we've looked at over the past year. Yeah, year! And to finish this theme in style, I thought we could do a vote to see who has been our favourite!

Nemo the Clownfish

Notable features:

• Stripey orange and white body.
• Live in anemone.
• Live in social hierarchies where ladies dominate.
• Threatened due to the popularity of Finding Nemo and climate change.

Fun Fact:

•  When the dominant female is removed, the dominant male will change gender to fill her void.

Free Willy the Orca

Notable Features:

• Strident black and white patterns.
• Opportunistic hunters - they will eat anything that moves.
• The females live longer than the males.
• They are very intelligent creatures which do not thrive in captivity.

Fun Fact:

• Despite being called "Killer Whales" they are actually dolphins. The moniker is believed to be an inversion of "Whale Killers" because they, you know, hunt whales.
  

 

Dory the Blue Tang

 Notable Features:

• Blue tangs are the most tropical fish that did tropical fish. Meaning, they are bright and colourful.
• They are a vital part of reef life as they eat algae.
• Eggs hatch after only 24 hours.
• They are a victim of the "Nemo Effect", meaning they are threatened because people want to keep them.

Fun Fact:

• Blue tangs have a distinct smell which is off putting and they are dangerous for humans to consume.
  

 

 

Flotsam & Jetsam the Moray Eels 

Notable features:

• Moray eels come in a variety of colours and patterns.
• They have a double jaw, effectively, to help with their ambush hunting style.
• Some species of moray eel are some of the biggest eels in the ocean.
• There are two distinct families of moray eel, distinguishable by their fins.

Fun Fact:

• There are 202 species of moray eel.
  

Sally & Samson the Sperm Whales

Notable features:

• They are the largest toothed whales alive today.
• They have a prominent, square head which is filled with spermaceti.
• They are deep sea hunters and often sport scars from their epic battles with squid.
• Mature males live in solitary whereas mature females and juveniles live together in pods.

Fun Fact:

• They sport the largest head in the animal kingdom, it makes up about a third of their length!
  

Red Bellied Piranhas from Piranha

Notable features:

• Mature red bellied piranhas sport a nice red belly. Who would have guessed?!
• They have prominent teeth which are used for scavenging rather than stripping prey down to the skeleton.
• They prefer to live in warmer waters but will spend time in cooler temperatures. But only if they have to.
• Piranhas live in shoals but don't tend to hunt in the massive blizzard of bodies which the media would have us believe.

Fun Facts:

• They are omnivorous! Piranha are just as likely to eat plants as they are something meaty. Even then, they tend to opt for the dying and only really take on big prey if there is enough of them.
  

Jaws the Great White Shark

Notable features:

• Great whites are the sharkiest shark that ever did shark. They have the torpedo shaped body, counter shading for camo, and all the teeth.
• It belongs to the Mackerel shark family, making its brethren thresher, basking, and goblin sharks.
• Great whites are apex predators. They are only hunted by other, bigger whites.
• A lot of the great white's habits remain largely unknown. They spend a lot of time in deep waters and cannot be kept successfully in aquariums.

Fun Fact:

• Sharks have been on our planet longer than flowers.
  

Sykes the Pufferfish

Notable features:

• Pufferfish have the ability to puff out and make their spines protrude. It is not something they do often because it stresses them out.
• They are so poisonous and toxic that they don't even bother hiding from predators.
• Their eyes can move independently of each other.
• Like a lot of fish, pufferfish start life in the deep waters before moving to coastal regions when they mature.

Fun Fact:

• Dolphins use pufferfish toxins to get high.
  

Flipper the Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Notable features:

• Their name is derived the iconic bottle shaped nose which they sport.
• Dolphins are mammals, meaning they give birth to live young and breathe air.
• They are very intelligent and can communicate in clicks and whistles.
• In addition to tuna, they eat squid, eels, shrimp, and other fish.

Fun Fact:

• The common bottlenose dolphin has a bigger brain than humans do. Anyone for a rousing chorus of So Long and Thanks for all the Fish?
  

Scuttle the Seagull

 Notable features:

• There are 54 species of seagull, varying in size from small to medium. 
• They are surprisingly intelligent birds and can communicate using complex vocalisations and body language.
• Hybridisation occurs between different species of gull.
• They are noisy nesters.

Fun Fact:

• Gulls breed on every continent - even Antarctica!
  

The Walrus of Alice in Wonderland

 Notable features:

• Walruses look like is a seal and an elephant somehow had a baby: big blubbery body with tusks.
• Both males and females have tusks and they are used for more than male displays of dominance. Mostly, they are used for helping walruses to heave themselves out of the water.
• They eat oysters, clams, and other molluscs, but will not travel far to get them!
• Walruses have 10cm thick skin which will sport more and more scars as they get older.

Fun Fact:

• Walruses stampede.
  

Paul the Octopus

 Notable features:

• As you would expect, common octopuses have eight legs. Or rather, eight tentacles.
• They live for roughly two years, but not many of them spend their life span predicting football results!
• Common octopuses are found across the world in abundance.
• The bulbous head is called a mantle, and they grow up to 25cm long.

Fun Fact:

• They can camouflage themselves by changing their colour at will!
  

The 52Hzt Whale

 Notable features:

• No one truly knows what species of whale it is. The going theory is a hybrid of blue and fin whale.
• It sings at a different frequency to all other whales, meaning no one else can hear it. Truly making it the loneliest whale.
• Despite being one of a kind, the 52Htz whale has matured and seems healthy enough.
• Scientists have been tracking it for many years, in an attempt to learn more about how and why it came to be.

Fun Facts:

• There is a theory that it could be deaf!

Spongebob Squarepants the Sea Sponge

Notable features:

• Rather than looking like a dish sponge, they are often tube shaped.
• They filter feed by channeling water through its central cavity.
• They are a sessile species, which means they do not move once they settle down to grow.
• They eat detritus which makes them a vital part of reef ecosystems. 

Fun Fact:

• There are over 10,000 species of sea sponge, but only one Spongebob.
  

 

And now for the really fun bit. Cast your votes here and tell me who has been your favourite #FamousFish! Open until Monday!

 If you have any suggestions for future, non-famous #MCotM - comment below!

Listening to: One Hit Wonders