Fish questions

The heaviest bony fish ever caught weighs in at a staggering 5,070 lbs. (2,300 kilograms). Mola alexandrini has a relatively small mouth and its teeth fused into a parrot-like beak. It can reach up to 3.3 m (11 ft). Their body is flat and round, with large fins that they swish back and forth to propel themselves with as they swim horizontally. Mola alexandrini hav no caudal bones, ribs, and pelvic fins and have fused vertebrae, leaving only their median fins to propel themselves.

The shark is the world's oldest creature with a backbone, and may have been born as early as 1505 — when Istanbul under the Ottomans was just 52 years old. Using radiocarbon dating, scientists analyzed the eye lenses of 28 Greenland sharks, finding the oldest sample to be 392 years old.

The largest fish in the world, the whale shark, is an endangered species found in most of the world’s tropical waters. Like the megamouth sharks and the basking shark, whale sharks are filter feeders and their diet consists almost exclusively of plankton. Because of this they’re completely harmless to humans, and diving with whale sharks has become a popular ecotourism attraction in several countries. The largest individuals can weigh over 30 tonnes and give birth to 300 pups.

Eel catfish is an airbreathing catfishes found in Africa. It grows up to about 33 centimeters. It lives in the muddy swamps of Congo and Angola. The main component of its diet are land beetles living on land. Scientists hope that the discovery of this fish will allow us to understand the evolution of sea fish to terrestrial animals in the Devonian period. Their hunting method is probably similar to the methods of early vertebrates.

The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) is a cartilaginous fish of the eagle ray family, Myliobatidae. This ray can be identified by its dark dorsal surface covered in white spots or rings. The rays are considered near threatened on the IUCN Red List. They are fished mainly in Southeast Asia and Africa, the most common market being in commercial trade and aquariums. They are protected in the Great Barrier Reef.

As all frogfishes, A. hispidus is a voracious carnivore which will devour all right-sized prey that pass within reach, usually other fish, but sometimes even its own kind. It can swallow prey its own size. Frogfish are skilled hunters and some species are capable of blending into local environments such as coral reefs. A frogfish can camouflage itself so well that prey fish will swim close by without seeing the predator lurking before them. Then, before the prey knows it, he's eaten in about 6 milliseconds!

The first genetically modified animal to be commercialized was the GloFish, a Zebra fish with a fluorescent gene added that allows it to glow in the dark under ultraviolet light. It was released to the US market in 2003. GloFish available in pet stores are now sold in bright red, green, orange-yellow, blue, pink, and purple fluorescent colors. In the European Union, the placing on the market and breeding of genetically modified animals is prohibited.

Surface lures are also known as top water lures, poppers and stickbaits. They float and look like fish prey that is on top of the water. They can make a popping, burbling, or even a buzzing sound. It takes a long time to learn how to use this lure effectively

Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of arthrodire placoderm fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 358–382 million years ago. Some of which are among the largest placoderms to have ever lived. The largest species, D. terrelli grew up to 6 m (19.7 ft) long and 1 t (1.1 short tons) in weight. Numerous fossils of the various species have been found in North America, Poland, and Morocco.

The slender snipe eel (Nemichthys scolopaceus) is a fish that can weigh only a few ounces, yet reach 5 feet or 1.5 m in length. Features include a bird-like beak with curving tips, covered with tiny hooked teeth, which they use to sweep through the water to catch shrimp and other crustaceans. It has more vertebrae in its backbone than any other animal, around 750.