The Walleye (also known as the pickerel, dore or jackfish) is among the most popular of all game fish. These members of the perch family are famous for their unpredictability in the sense that they act crazy for a few days and then disappear without a trace the next time. Also, if the walleye decides to stop taking the bait, no amount of enticement can tempt it to bite.

Walleye’s Distinctive Characteristics and Behavior

A distinctive characteristic of walleyes are their marble-like eyes. Their eyes have a reflective pigment which gives the fish a walleyed look, hence their name. Because of this pigmentation in their eyes, the walleye can see clearly in dim light. This gives these successful predators an advantage over their most common prey, the yellow perch which lacks effective eyesight in dark places or at night. The feature also means that walleyes feed mostly at night.

On another note, this freshwater fish cannot tolerate very bright lights, and they have difficulty swimming in open spaces during the daytime, especially at noon. For this reason, walleyes swim deep during daytime, up to 40 feet below the water surface just to avoid the glare of the sun.

More Facts

Another interesting fact about the walleye is their lack of blue and yellow cells in their eyes. Although not totally blind, these fish see the world in shades of red and green. Therefore, lures that are colored orange, red or green are more effective than baits of other shades.

Fish Facts: What you need to know about skate fish?

• The skate has no stinger, unlike other members of the ray family. It is flat and is shaped like a kite with two wings. People only eat the wings of the skate.

• Skates come from Taiwan, USA, and the Caribbean, but they are consumed in Germany, Spain, Japan and the USA.

• These marine fish have to be processed well after capture because they are prone to smell of ammonia. This is because Skate fish get rid of excess urea through their skin.

• Skates are found near the floor of the ocean, where they spend most of their times.

• Only a few, such as the manta ray and the devil ray spend time away from the bottom of the ocean.

• Scientists believe that the color of the rays helps to serve as a camouflage, which blends with the floor of the ocean.

• One interesting trivia about Skates is the way they identify family members. Apparently, Skates use electricity to recognize each other.

• Manta rays are scary to anglers because they are so big. Chevrolet even created a Stingray inspired sports car in 1958.

• Sometimes, when provoked or scared, Rays attack people with their barbs or stings.

They need to have leaves, twigs, and plenty of vegetation to hide in (they are quite timid) and build nests. This species of fish has been bred into different hybrids such as Powder Blue (Blue) Dwarf Gourami, Neon Blue (Rainbow) Dwarf Gourami, and the Flame (Fire Red/ ‘Blood’ Red) Dwarf Gourami.

In nature, they live in waterways and paddy field in places like India, Assam and Bangladesh. Their natural habitat is thick with vegetation, so you will find them in the Ganges River for example.

This aquarium fish has several defining characteristics:

• Beautiful Colors – the males are a bright red – almost orange – background with blue green vertical stripes and a blue green belly
• Small – can be only two inches
• Non – aggressive, can live peacefully with other fish species in one tank
• Dwarf Gourami can absorb oxygen from the atmosphere using its labyrinth organ
• Omnivorous therefore eats all types of fish food available
• Hardy – Although this does not mean that, you do not have to change the water regularly to prevent toxins building up.

They enjoy having a good amount of light, but also require dense vegetation and floating plants so they can hide when they want to

Interesting fish facts: What you need to know about Scissortail Dartfish:

1. They feed on meaty foods because they are carnivorous.
2. Scissortail Dartfish take time to get used to fish tank surroundings.
3. The tank should be covered all the time because Scissortail Dartfish is very good at jumping!
4. They rarely bother other fish species, but will not survive if attacked by larger or more aggressive tank mates.

More Fish Facts

Let the fish have plenty of hiding spaces in the aquarium – rocks should do this pretty well. Over active or over aggressive behavior from tank mates is likely to increase the chances that Scissortail Dartfish also become aggressive. Sometimes a big tank helps to increase aggression.

Because of their darting, they are fun to watch. Scissortail Dartfish are carnivorous. They can eat brine shrimp, shrimp, and other meaty meals.

• Black dragon fish are predators who feed on other types of fish. They trap their preys by emitting light from their bodies, which then attracts the prey. Once the prey moves close enough the dragon fish attacks it using its fangs.

• This species of fish may be long and thin, but they compensate with very large teeth, besides their ability to emit light.

• Black dragon fish are sexually dimorphic, meaning that females and males look different. The females are bigger – actually ten times bigger – and more aggressive than males. Female Dragon fish have small eyes and long fangs for getting hold of her prey. Further, females are black but males are brown.

• Unique are the Larval Black Dragon fish, which are almost transparent, with eyes at the end of two long stalks of flesh extending from their bodies.

• Light emitted by this marine fish is not very easy for humans to detect because it has such a long wavelength almost like infra red light.

From the underside of the mouth all the way to the tail, the Firemouth Cichlid has a fiery red color – which inspires its name. The body is a mixture of blue-gray, blue and brown.

Avoid putting Firemouth Cichlid together with other fish species because during spawning, they are aggressive with other species. The red coloration has itself been discovered by scientists to be frightening to other types of fish. When a male Firemouth Cichlid is in the mood for a fight, he inflates his fiery red throat sac and gill covers. It may be a bluff, but it is impressive to other fish.

Fish Facts: What you need to know about Firemouth Cichlid:

1. These aquarium fish like fine sand lining the bottom of the tank as well as plenty of rocks and wood to hide in.
2. They appreciate plants within the tank – as long as the plants do not occupy too much space leaving little space for swimming.
3. Males are more colorful, especially during spawning season.
4. They have a second set of teeth in the throat besides the normal teeth.
5. They exercise their sense of smell by sucking in water and expelling it.
6. They are larger – growing up to 6 inches.
7. For a pair of Firemouth Cichlid, a 20 gallon tank is enough.
8. They are monogamous and remain in two parent families.

Common Facts about Pikes

Characteristics: Pikes are characterized by their strong, powerful jaw, pointed head, elongated body and sharp teeth used for catching preys. They usually come in blue, grey, black and white colors.

Habitat: Pikes are freshwater-dwelling fish. They are found inhabiting in slow-running freshwater such as large streams, rivers and lakes across Canada, Europe, North America, and western part of Asia.

Diet: Pikes are generally carnivorous in nature, despite of the fact that young pikes feed on plants. They primarily feed on insects, smaller species of fish, snails, frogs and toads.

Lifespan: Since pikes are generally large-sized, they have few numbers of predators. Due to this, their average lifespan ranges from 12 to 15 years.

More Facts about Pikes for Kids

• The size of pike determines its sex. It is known that the larger the pike is, the more likely it is female. Male pikes are usually smaller than female pikes, weighing only 10 lbs or more.

• The size of pike ranges from 20 inches to 71 inches.

• A full grown female pike can lay around 200,000 eggs. They usually lay eggs during spring season for their offspring to have longer time to develop before winter season starts.

• Due to water pollution and over-fishing, pike population in Europe and North America is affected.

Basic Facts about Garfish

Characteristics: Garfish is characterized by it sharp teeth, elongated body and strong, powerful jaw. Despite of being slow-moving fish, they can efficiently catch their prey with the help of their powerful jaw filled by needle-like teeth.

Lifespan: Since Garfish are generally large-sized, they have fewer numbers of predators within their natural habitat. Hence they can live around 10 to 20 years.

Habitat: Gars are usually found inhabiting in brackish and fresh water of eastern regions of North America, some parts of Caribbean Islands and Central America. They tend to live in slow-running freshwaters such as lakes and reservoirs.

Diet: Garfish are carnivores in nature. They primarily feed on insects, smaller species of fish and invertebrates such as crabs.

More Facts about Garfish for Kids

• The size of garfish ranges from 2 feet to 9.8 feet. Its optimum ph level is around 6.0 to 9.0.

• Garfish are preyed by larges animals such as alligators, large fishes, crocodiles and even humans, being the predominant predators of garfish.

• Spring months, from April to June, are the mating season for garfish. Full grown female gar can lay about 10 eggs on nearby beach or trees. And just like other types of fish, they usually leave their offspring once hatched.

• The population of gar decreases in some areas because of water pollution and over-fishing. Regardless, they are not yet listed as endangered.