Amazing facts about aquatic animals

• Animals with some of the longest lives are the Marion’s tortoise (152 years), the fin whale (116 years) and the deep-sea clam (100 years).
• There are about 40 species or kinds of porpoises and dolphins.
• Porpoises and dolphins communicate with each other by squeaking, growling, moaning, and whistling.
• Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
• The small car on the road is probably the size of the heart of a blue whale. 
• Heavyweights! The tongue of a blue whale could weigh more than a full-grown adult elephant. 
• Flying fish actually glide on wind currents above the surface of the water, sometimes up to 20 feet above the surface.
• Starfish can have up to 16 arms.
• The 14-foot-long narwhal is a whale whose tooth can reach up to eight feet long!

• When an octopus gets angry, it shoots a stream of black "ink".
• A jellyfish is 95% water.
• The largest member of the dolphin family is called an orca or killer whale.
• The blue whale, the largest animal to have ever existed, is 96 feet long and weighs 125 tons. This is as much as 4 large dinosaurs (Brontosauri), 23 elephants, 230 cows or 1800 men.
• The world's largest rodent is the Capybara. Amazon water hog that looks like a guinea pig, it can weigh more than 100 pounds.
• At 188 decibels, the whistle of the blue whale is the loudest sound produced by any animal.
• The world's largest mammal, the blue whale, weighs 50 tons at birth. Fully grown, it weighs as much 
• Humans daydream with their eyes open, and dolphins actually sleep with their eyes wide open. 
• Killer Whales are the only sea animal that outranks the Tiger Shark as top predator of the sea.

• Minnows have teeth located on a bone in their throat.
• The smallest fish in the world are the pygmy goby and the Luzon goby, from the Philippines, which are only one-half-inch long when they are full grown.
• The lung fish can live out of water for as long as four years!
• Scallops swim with jet-propelled speed by clapping its shell open and shut.
• The memory span of goldfish is just about 3 seconds. 
• Starfish have eight eyes - one at the end of each leg.
• The snapping shrimp, only 1 1/2 inches long, makes a noise with its one big claw, which sounds exactly like a firecracker.
• A newly hatched fish is called a "fry."

• Fish have gel-slime on their bodies that protects them from parasites.
• Fish swimming at depths of 15,000 feet (almost 3 miles down!) can withstand a pressure of 7,000 pounds per square inch. They are able to live in these crushing depths by pumping gas into their swim bladder.
• One way to tell the age of a fish is by looking at its scales. They have growth rings just like trees. These are called circuli. Clusters of them are called annuli. Each annuli show one year.
• The stonefish, which lives off the coast of Australia, is the most poisoous fish in the world.
• A slug has four noses.
• Octopuses have 3 hearts.
• A goldfish can live up to 40 years.
• A starfish doesn't have a brain
• The leatherback is the biggest sea turtle. It weighs as much as 1,500 pounds.
• The emperor penguin is playful, and often times lies on its chest and side to slide along the ice and snow.
• A Giant squid's eye can be as big as a basketball.

• Some fish have eyes that are the same size as their stomach!
• The hippopotamus gives birth under water and nurses its young in the river as well, though the young hippos do come up periodically for air.
• A female seahorse lets her husband store her babies inside his stomach!
• Sea horses pull themselves around with their chins leading them.

• The blue whale is the largest creature that has ever lived on earth. It tips the scales at a whopping 170 tons - that's the same as about 22 elephants. Its heart is the size of a small car, and its largest blood vessels are wide enough for an adult to swim through without much difficulty. 
• Porpoises and dolphins communicate with each other by squeaking, growling, moaning, and whistling. Porpoises and dolphins are mammals. There are about 40 species or kinds of porpoises and dolphins. Most porpoises and dolphins navigate by using "echolocation". The largest member of the dolphin family is called an orca or killer whale.

• Did you know fishes cannot live in the Dead Sea because the water has too much salt in it?
• A parrot fish makes its own sleeping bag to sleep in. It uses mucous (like spit) to make a see-through bag all around its body to protect it from attack by other creatures in the ocean. 
• The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. The heart of a blue whale is as big as a car, and its tongue is as long as an elephant.
• The pelican uses the funny looking pouch under its lower beak for catching fish. It does this by swooshing into the water and scooping up as many fish as possible. 
• The heaviest fish ever caught was the Ocean Sunfish. It weighed 4,928 lbs.
• Did you know pearls are found in oysters? The largest pearl ever found was 620 carats.
• The sword tail is the fastest swimmer of all the fish
• A giant squid’s eyes are the largest amongst animal species measuring up to 40 cm (16 inches) in diameter. 
• Sharks are very healthy, as they are immune to all known diseases. 
• On average, sharks kill 10 humans every year. Approximately 100 people die each year when they are stepped on by cows. 
• Frogs have an ear drum on the outside of their head.
• Sea otters always float on their backs when they eat.
• The largest recorded jellyfish measured 2, 3 m across its bell. Its tentacles measured 36 m (120 feet) in length. 
• The largest giant squid ever found weighed 4 tons. It was traced in the in the North Atlantic in the year 1878. 
• The sailfish can swim at the speed of 109 km/h, making it the fastest swimmer. 
• The Sea Horse is the slowest fish, drifting at approximately 0.016 km/h. 
• Sharks are the only known species to never suffer from cancer. 
• Oysters change from male to female gender several times during their lifespan. 
• Every shrimp is actually born a male and then become females as they mature.

Posted in: Animals,Zoology