|
Old "FOTW" entries and blog archives
Ichthyology:
People:
|
11/21/02
Say hello to the modest little eulachon--variously spelled "oolakan," "oolichan," even "hooligan." (Note for etymology nuts: this use of "hooligan" does not represent the origin of that word, which dates from late 19th century England and is perhaps a variation on the Irish family name "Houlihan," or maybe isn't.) The name is pronounced yoo la kon. These little smelts--family Osmeridae--were crucial to native Northwest survival and are still heavily fished, albeit commercially, today. They are the first fish to arrive in coastal waters in spring, and their flesh is soaked with nutritious, fatty oil. It's that greasiness that give them the name "candlefish." You can dry a eulachon, stick a wick in its mouth, and then light it like a candle! A stinky, fishy candle!
Thaleichthys pacificus means "rich fish of the Pacific," and these little fellows are certainly rich in nutritional value and historical importance to humans. They hang out in estuaries much of the year, feeding on plankton, and head up rivers to spawn, like their salmonid cousins.
More Eulachons
11/13/02
The European mudminnow (Umbra krameri) is one of a bunch of fishes that can gulp air when the dissolved oxygen content of the water gets low. This innocuous fish is the only European representative of the mudminnow family, a primitive group of fishes with small bodies and secretive habits.
They are called "der Hundsfisch" in German.
Preferring stagnant pools or sluggish rivers, U. krameri is found exclusively in the Danube basin and the lower parts of the Dnestr and Prut rivers. This species is threatened with extinction by habitat loss, poor water quality, and competition from nonnative species. I would be sad to see them go.
More mudminnows
11/05/02
What's the only vertebrate that parasitizes humans? No, it's not the domestic cat, it's Vaudellia cirrhosa, otherwise known as the candiru, the carnero, or the vampire fish. These scaleless little fish, from the catfish family Trichomycteridae, are bloodthirsty, and they're willing to go to some amazing lengths to feed.
When they smell blood, they swim like crazy toward the source, and wriggle their way into wounds and any other opening they can find, usually the gills of other fishes. In tropical Brazil where the candiru lives, legend (and the occasional verified report) has it that the fish will sometimes swim up the urethra or anus of a swimming human, lodging there painfully.
While the tiny catfish don't have actual fangs, they do have spines around their head that pierce the skin of their victim. Once a nice bloodflow is going, they simply lap it up.
More Candiru
10/24/02
Look ye mighty on Icosteus aenigmaticus and despair!
The single species in its family, the ragfish is indeed an enigma. Scaleless, floppy, and huge, the ragfish prowls the deep North Pacific in search of squids, proving the old adage that you are what you eat.
Ragfish are cartilaginous, like sharks and rays, but belong to the order Perciformes, like bass. They are a nondescript brown as adults, and sport a face reminiscent of a sperm whale. Sperm whales eat ragfish, proving once again the old adage that what you eat is you.
More Ragfish
**************
10/11/02
The paddlefish (Polydon spathula) is a freshwater oddity, just to prove that the strangest things don't always swim in the sea. These big fish are a popular species for sport fishing in the American southeast, kind of a redneck shark. I've heard people in east Texas call them "spoonbill catfish." They're not catfish, though; they're primitive cartilaginous fish like sturgeons. People eat their flesh and roe.
Paddlefish range from the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers down through the Mississippi delta and west to Texas. They may be the oldest living animal species in North America. Filter-feeding their way through murky river waters, they grow fast and big, some over 4 feet and 50 pounds.
Learn to love them quickly, because their populations are declining everywhere.
More Paddlefish
**************
09/13/02
My vote for best taxonomic family name goes to the Uranoscopidae, or stargazers. Of the 50 species in this family, my unqualified favorite is the southern stargazer (Astroscopus y-graecum), named by Cuvier in 1928. In Mexico, it's called "miracielo pintad," which translates to "painted heaven-looker." I used to love to chant its Latin name to myself as I waded through slurpy salt marshes in Galveston. I caught quite a few of them, mostly by picking up old cans and bottles off the bottom--little stargazers like to hide in small spaces when they're not buried in the sand.
The genus Astroscopus has a notable property besides looking upward all the time: electric organs. While I've never been shocked by one, having only handled really small individuals and then with much care, they can produce quite a jolt.
More Stargazers
|
