• They not only are huge but are designed to be able to swim very fast; rates of 43 miles per hour.

• Their shape resembles an airplane which allows them to experience a low amount of drag. They can retract their fins to reduce the drag they sometimes experience.

• They are considered to be warm-blooded and in turn can venture into icy cold waters with ease.

• This species of fish is considered to be endangered for the simple fact that their meat is delicious to people all over the world.

• They can be found in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean near Europe.

• The tuna feeds on a variety of other sea creatures like eel. They also are able to filter feed on tiny organisms. Eating all this different food helps the tuna to grow so large.

The biggest Bluefin tuna ever caught weighed an incredible 1,496 pounds. Even though they are a robust fish, they are endangered because of commercial fishing.

Archerfish Fast Facts

Archerfish Description: They have a typical silver or white color with 4-6 black vertical bands, with the first one covering the eye. The young have irregular yellow patches on top. They have an elongated and flattened body with a sharp head. This marine fish grows up to 12 inches (30cm) long.

Diet: The Archer fish are carnivores.

Habitat: It is commonly found in the coastal waters of tropical Asia. They mainly inhabit salty mangrove swamps and also occupy rivers and streams.

Behavior: They are not aggressive with other species of fish and do well in a tank with other brackish fish.

Facts about Archerfish for Aquarium hobbyist

• The fish mostly swims in the middle or top of the aquarium. For long term care, brackish water is recommended.

• Water requirements are hard water with a pH of 7.0 -8.0 and temperature of 77 – 86°F (25 to 30 °C). If companions of the same species are bigger in size, they tend to become aggressive, therefore it’s best to keep them alone in a tank.

• There are no known sexual differences and has never been bred in captivity, because it is commonly available.

• The tank should not be completely filled to allow the fish to use their unique shooting ability.

Blob fish stay close to the ocean floor, which means few people ever see them.

Sometimes anglers capture a blob fish by chance when fishing in deep waters.  Sporting a face shaped like a triangle and wearing what looks like a scowling face, Blob fish are not exactly easy on the eye.

Nevertheless, these extraordinary marine fish are well adapted to their habitat:

1. They have no gas bladders – because they do not need them. Gas bladders cannot function at the pressure at that level which is 80 times that at the surface.

2. They are a large coagulated mass of gel with a density lower than water – allowing them to glide over the ocean floor.

3. They have no muscles because they do not have to swim. They wait until prey comes by – mollusks, sea urchins and crustaceans.

People first described Blob fish in 1978. In 2000, scientists found Blob fish breeding grounds on the Gorda Escarpment near the Coast of California. Scientists still observe them every year in different places. They first occupied ocean floors near Australia and Tasmania.

Facts about blob fish breeding

Blob fish nests can contain 9,000-108,000 pink eggs – usually brooded by a fish sitting on them. Even seemingly unattended eggs are usually clean – suggesting some tending.

Blob fish live very close to each other – sometimes nesting less than a meter apart. Scientists believe that they all tend to select one limited place for nesting because of a steady supply of food.

Sperm Whale Characteristics

• The head of sperm whale is filled with an oily, milky-white liquid which was previously perceived to be sperm, hence the name. The liquid, which is called spermaceti, has been speculated to help the sperm whale with buoyancy on its long, deep dives.

• An adult male sperm whale, otherwise known as a bull, can grow to a length of 20 meters much of which is made up of the head (about one-third). It can weigh up to 57,000 kg. Exemptions to these size ranges are the pygmy sperm whale (3-4 m, 408 kg) and the smallest of the species, the dwarf sperm whale (2.7 m, 250kg).

• A sperm whale’s lower tooth is cone-shaped and weighs approximately 1 kg. They have 20 teeth both on the lower jaw and the upper, although the teeth found in the upper jaw are rudimentary in form. The teeth lock together when the mouth is closed.

Behavior and Diet of Sperm Whale

The sperm whale dives very deeply into the ocean, around 9,700 meters below the surface. This is primarily because of their carnivorous diet which consists of squid. Deep sea squid such as the giant and the colossal squid generally live deep down under the sea. The sperm whales consume about 900kg of squid a day.

Hagfish Description

The skeleton of a hagfish is made up of cartilage. This structure was once believed to be suited for a parasitic life but scientists later agreed that hagfish are scavengers and feed only on the decaying and dying fish. Hagfish are one of the slowest evolving species of fish and it is speculated that hagfish have stayed the same for 550 million years.

Here are some more interesting facts about hagfish:

• Hagfish grow from 7 cm to 127 cm.
• In spite of their eel-like looks, hagfish do not belong to the same class as eels.
• Amazing information about Hagfish is that they have skull but no vertebra.
• Hagfish eat dead or dying animals by burying themselves into these animals and destroying the animal from the inside out.
• When attacked or disturbed, hagfish secrete vast amounts of mucus that theoretically clog up the predators gills.
• Hagfish inhabit deep waters and have been found at depths of 1700 meters below sea level.

Flying Gurnard Facts for kids

Flying Gurnard Description: Their bodies are almost rounded, elongated and tapers toward the tail. They have a large head and eyes, but a small mouth. From the side the head looks like that of a frog. The fish is covered with scales that are tough and prickly. There are two large hook-like spurs near the gills. It has large fanlike pectoral fins. The dorsal fin is forked.

This marine fish uses its two pelvic fins to ‘walk’ on the ocean floor. It has a moving appendage on top of its head behind the eye region. The body can be light green, or mixed dark and light tan colors, with a white belly and darker spots on the body. The pectoral fins have orange edges and dark spots.

Habitat: The fish occupy shallow waters with sandy floors. The fish is distributed from Hawaii and Japan toward central Polynesia, to the East Indies and across the Indian Ocean to the African coast.

Behavior and Diet: It uses its pelvic fins to walk and search for food. The pectoral fins act as wings to propel the fish forward in short distances. The fish is carnivorous and eats invertebrates, crustaceans and other fish.

Flying Gurnard Facts for Aquarists: The Flying Gurnard is a beautiful and entertaining fish and is easy to look after. Since it can grow quite large, it must be provided with a large aquarium.

Spiny Dogfish Facts

Spiny Dogfish Description: The basic color of the shark is grey, with a brownish top and white spots on its ventral side. On average, their length is 75-105cm (30 to 40inches), but can sometimes grow up to 130cm and weigh 9kg (20lbs). The two dorsal fins, the first larger than the second, have spines at their base. The upper lobe of the caudal fin is larger and the fin is asymmetrical. Both jaws have smooth edged, oblique teeth.

Characteristics: Distinguishing characteristics include; no anal fin, anterior dorsal fin spines, white spots on the sides and back, oblique teeth with one cusp, a caudal fin without sub-terminal notch, pectoral fins with arched margin and thin front nasal flap.

Lifespan: The lifespan of a spiny dogfish is 25 to 30 years. Most of the population has a seasonal migration along the north-eastern part of the North American coast.

Habitat: The spiny dogfish can be found in cold and warm oceans between 6 and 15°C. They tolerate a wide range of salt level. It frequents shallow water and also swims in depths of 730 meters.

Diet: this marine fish feeds opportunistically, eating any abundant prey it comes across. Their diet consists of small fish and invertebrates.

Breeding: This shark’s reproduction is ovoviviparous. It has the longest gestation period of all sharks at 22 months and young are born along North Carolina and New England.

Stargazer fish facts

This marine fish are scientifically classified as follows:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Actinopterygii
• Order: Perciformes
• Family: Uranoscopidae

Stargazer fish Description: Stargazer fish have a round, elongated body and dull brown color. The large head consists of bony plates and is slightly flattened vertically. The average size of the fish is 18-25cm.

The eyes are small and situated at the top of the body and its large mouth faces upwards. There is a small worm-like projection at the tip of its lower jaw. Stargazers are poisonous fish, due to two large poisonous spines on each pectoral fin. The spines also discharge electricity. They can poison and shock humans and particularly attack night divers.

Habitat: They are found in the shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea and deeper Atlantic Ocean.

Diet: It feeds on other fish and invertebrates. They watch their prey from within the sand. They attract prey with their worm-like protrusion and then capture them.

Breeding: The fish breed in spring and summer. The small, transparent eggs are laid at the bottom of the ocean, then later hatch into larvae on the surface of the water, where they remain until they reach 12-15millimeters in length and swim to the bottom of the ocean and develop into mature stargazer fish.

Cod Facts for Kids

• The cod inhabits the cold waters of the oceans in the Northern regions and have a natural anti-freeze mechanism to maintain its body temperature in this extremely cold environment.

• People have hunted this marine fish since the beginning of mankind and today cod comprises of 10% of the globe’s fishing industry. However, in the last few years the cods have become endangered due to overfishing.

• Cods have very pointed teeth which allow them to eat almost any type of fish or shellfish, as well as worms.

• They live up to 15 years and can weigh between 150 to 200 pounds and after 3 years of age they can already weigh 5 pounds.

• The age of a cod can be determined by paired, white ‘earstones’ found in the skull, which show the cod’s age through growth rings.

Nutritional facts for Codfish: The fish are known to have significant health benefits. One serving of codfish contains 13 grams of protein with only 4 calories derived from fat, with a total of 58 calories. They also contain Vitamins C, D, B6 and B12.

Herring Fast Facts

Herring Description: They are small and silver in color. Herring have a single dorsal fin, which do not contain spines unlike other fish. They have no lateral line. A few species of Herring have pointed scales. This marine fish are characterized by a protruding bottom jaw. They have a small head and slender, laterally flattened body. The tail is bifurcated.

Atlantic herring, the most common species, can grow until 18 inches long, while pacific herring reaches a length of 15 inches. Baltic herring is smaller than the other types and only reaches a length of 14 to 18cm. The Atlantic herring weighs an average of 1.50 pounds.

Habitat: Herring fish are found in the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans.

Lifespan: They live up to 12 to 16 years, although Southern herring reach 23 to 25 years.

Behavior: They are camouflaged in the water by their flashing silver colored bodies. This may protect them from predators, but humans use this characteristic to spot and capture them.

Diet: Herring eat tiny organisms like planktons. They actually keep their mouths open while they swim to filter the planktons through their gills.

Breeding: They spawn in December. Herring swim in schools with currents that move toward the shore, and disband after spawning.

Herring Nutritional Facts: They are an excellent source of Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, and have been a staple for humans since 3000BC.