Juvenile Scalloped Hammerheads

The Pastinachus solocirostris, also known as the Roughnose Stingray, is from the Pastinachus genus of stingrays in the family of Dasyatidae. It is found generally in shallow waters of mangroves off of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. They grow to 72 centimeters across, and is characterized by their pointed snout. The fin disc of the Roughnose Stingray is wide, diamond-shape, and rounded on the corners. They have about 20 upper teeth and 25 lower teeth, with five papillae on the floor of the mouth. Like other stingrays, they are reproduced in embryos inside the mother, nourished by yolk, and then later with uterine milk from the mother. The Roughnose Stingray are listed as endangered, prone to being victims of bottom longline fisheries, used for its

Ruth Francis-Floyd, professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences (College of Veterinary Medicine) and Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611.

On this image, we see the external dorsal side of a preserved crayfish. As part of the largest animal phylum the Arthropoda, the body of the crayfish is segmented, with jointed appendages and exoskeleton. The paired antennae (1) are long appendages located the front of the mouth and modified for help the animal to sense touch and taste. The antennules (2) are shorter, also paired with the same function but they also help to maintain balance. The chelipeds (3) are located on the front of the thorax, and they are responsible for defence and grasping food. On the at ventral part of the thorax, we found four pairs of walking legs (4), with these legs the crayfish changes locations on the bottom of freshwater lakes, streams and also on land. They

Out of the many 10 known species of hammerhead sharks, only a small 3 of them have been known to be reasonably dangerous to humans. This consists of the Scalloped Hammerhead, Great hammerhead and the smooth hammerhead. Since 2013 there have been 33 recorded hammerhead shark attacks, but no deaths have become of them. The Scalloped and Great hammerhead sharks have been listed as endangered on the IUCN 2008's red list but the smalleye hammerhead shark is only rated as vulnerable. The reason these sharks have been rated as this is because of the over

If a bull shark and hammerhead shark were to fight, the bull shark would win. Bull sharks are the most dangerous sharks in the world! Along with this, bull sharks have special adaptations, and they hunt in shallow waters. Although hammerhead sharks have great vision, the shape of their heads, and the placement of their eyes cause them to have a huge blind spot right in the middle of their head. This makes it easier for other sharks to win a fight against the hammerhead.

To truly understand the cause of this awful fish mortality crisis in the HAGS Company, it is essential that we gather all the information we can about the normal living conditions of both the Halibut and Grunion fish. Halibut or Hippoglossus, is a flatfish from the family of the right-eye flounder fish, the largest of all the flatfish, and can grow to more than 8 ft long and 700 lbs. They usually reside in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, and are a readily enjoyed food all around the world. Physically, they are dark brown on the top side with a cream underbelly and have very small scales embedded within their skin.This color scheme is a form of countershading and disguises Halibut from above and from below by blending into the light above and the ocean floor below simultaneously. Halibut live at depths from nearly 10-100 meters, yet spend most of their time near the bottom, they can often move up the water column to feed.Younger Halibut, up to 10 years of age, are highly migratory, and generally migrate in a clockwise direction. Relatively inactive yet strong swimmers, able to eat a large variety of fish such as cod, crab, and shrimp. Adult Atlantic

Sharks are being harvested in an irresponsible and unsustainable way. Many species of shark could go extinct within our lifetime. Overfishing has caused a dramatic decline of 90% for shark populations worldwide and up to a 99% decline on the US East Coast. (Jha, 2008) This issue is

Trophic cascades are powerful forces that have a pronounced effect on ecosystems. They occur when predation causes shifts in prey dynamics that indirectly lead to enhanced survival in the next lowest trophic level. Walleye fishing bans at Lac la Biche coinciding with a restocking effort have led to a large recovery of walleye populations. The increase in populations of a high trophic level predator should cause shifts in a lower trophic level species (yellow perch) prey preferences from fish towards invertebrate prey. 576 yellow perch stomach collected from 2009 - 2013 by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development were sent to MacEwan University for processing/analysis. Yellow perch stomachs will be measured (dry weight, empty weight), and prey items will be removed identified and weighed. Sampling procedure differs depending on the type of prey item removed from the stomach (fish, macro and micro invertebrates). Length and weight measurements will be taken for fish and macro invertebrates; whereas, micro invertebrates will be sub sampled until 50-100 individuals can be identified. Data will be analyzed using multi

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, a uniquely adorned decapod, is found in subtropical to tropical waters, inhabiting rocky crags to sponges to sea grass. A carnivorous species, they will feed on gastropods, sea urchins, worms, and crustaceans. In addition to this, they are also important aquatic scavengers, aiding in the process of decomposition of dead organisms that fall to the ocean floor (Kanciruk 1980). Commonly fed on by moray eels and nurse sharks, they play a significant role in the food chain for not only marine species, but for humans as well. According to the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, this is one of the most important Palinurid species that is harvested in American waters due to high demand (Holthuis 1991). The economic

Sport fishermen often target hammerheads because they put up a tremendous fight, sometimes times literally fighting to the death… In many cases, the shark swimming away doesn’t equal survival. @predatorscience ‘s study showed that mortality can be delayed up to to 4 weeks after release. You can read that here, http://rjd.miami.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Gallagher-et-al.-2014.pdf

Louis Herman- University of Hawaii- Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory- Phoenix and Akeakamai- since 1979

Limpets (Patella vulgate) live in algae rich environments on rocky shores. . It has been proposed that in more sheltered areas, limpet shells will grow to be flatter with a larger diameter, while in more exposed areas of coastline, they will grow a taller and narrower shell shape. To find out whether or not the shores of Aberdeen reflected this, samples were taken from two sites (Site A and Site B) along the Aberdeen coastline that varied in their exposure to wave action. The sites were chosen to provide two sample sites with a notable difference in their environment. In the more sheltered site A, limpets were not exposed to harsh waves, while at site B, there was significantly more wave action. Quadrats were used at both sites to provide an area of sampling for the limpets and they were placed around 5 meters from the waterline. The overall results from the study showed that there is a very strong relationship between diameter and height in Limpet shells and that there was an incredibly slight difference in the relationship between the two sites.

The Pterois volitans, also known as the lionfish, is a remarkable creature that possesses adaptations, such as venomous tentacles, striping for camouflage, and control over its center of gravity, that makes for an enduring species. These beautiful fish can be found in warm marine reefs and coral from the Great Barrier Reef of Australia to the coasts of Florida and North Carolina. Moreover, these fish thrive in temperatures ranging from 60oF to 90oF. While lionfish are usually found in shallow waters, some are reported as living 175 feet deep. The lionfish has acquired adaptations to improve the chances of survival and fitness in an aquatic habitat. One such adaptation is the red, white and black striping that covers the lionfish’s body. Reefs

Red king crabs were collected for stomach analysis and abundance estimates by using a specially designed beam trawl, previously used in surveys for stock assessment by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR). The crab trawl is 6 m wide, 1 m high, and is equipped with a 135 mm mesh size polyethylene net (Sundet & Berenboim 2008). The hauling speed was approximately 1.65 kn. It was not possible to use a fixed standardized trawling distance because of the changing and rocky bottom topography. Four hauls were also performed with a shrimp bottom trawl in 2005, to catch fish for stomach analysis for another study not included in this paper. However, as red king crabs were caught during four of these hauls (Table 3), stomach analysis of these crabs

New Zealand’s freshwater fish population is unique, with endemic species constituting 92% of the species present (McDowall, 1990). The Galaxiidae family consists of over 50 species (McDowall, 2006) grouped into seven genera, two of which, galaxiids (Galaxias spp.) and mudfish (Neochanna spp.), are present in New Zealand (McDowall, 2012). At least 25 species of endemic galaxid and mudfish have been identified, making Galaxiidae the largest taxonomic group of freshwater fish in New Zealand (McDowall, 2012), and fossil records show they have remained unchanged since the Pliocene (McDowall, 1976). Galaxiidae are only found in the Southern Hemisphere, and they have been observed living in and around New Zealand, Australia, South America and South Africa (McDowall & Frankenberg, 1981). McDowall, a notable authority on Galaxiidae fish, describes them as “unusual in that they are mostly small, benthic [resting on the bottom], riverine, largely nocturnal, diadromous [able to live in fresh and salt water], and cryptic”. The bodies of the fish are covered with star-like spots, reminiscent of a galaxy, which inspired the name Galaxiidae (Fitter, 2009).