FISHES (PISCES, BRADYODONTI, SELACHII AND MARSIPOLI)

 FISHES (PISCES, BRADYODONTI, SELACHII AND MARSIPOLI)

Largest Fresh-water Fishes

The largest fish which spends its whole life in fresh or brackish water is the rare Pa Beuk or Pla Buk (Pangasianodon gigas), a giant catfish found in the Mekong River of Laos and Thailand. Adult males average 8 n in length and weigh about 360 lb. This size was exceeded by the European catfish or wels (Silurus glanis). In the 19th century lengths of up to 15 ft and weights up to 720 lb were reported for Russian specimens, but today anything over 6 ft and 200 lb is considered large. The arapaima (Arapaima glanis), also called the pirarucu, found in the Amazon and other South American rivers and often claimed to be the largest fresh-water fish, averages 6 and 150 lb. The largest "authentically recorded" measured 8 ft 1% in and weighed 325 lb. It was caught in the Rio Negro,Brazil, in 1836. In Sept 1978 a Nile perch (Lates niloticus) weighing 416 lb was netted in the eastern part of Lake Victoria, Kenya.

Largest Sea Fishes

The largest fish is the rare, plankton-feeding whale shark (Rhiniodon typus) which is found in the warmer areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is not, however, the largest marine animal. since it is smaller than the larger species of whales (mammals). A whale shark measuring 60 n 9 in long and weighing an estimated 90,000 lb was caught in a bamboo fish-trap at Koh Chik, in the Gulf of Siam, in 1919.

The largest carnivorous fish (excluding plankton-eaters) is the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), also called the man-cater." which ranges from the tropics to temperate zone waters. In June 1930 a speci- men measuring 37 in length was reportedly trapped in a herring weir the White Head Island, New Brunswick, Canada. but may have been wrongly identified basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus). In May 1948 1 great white shark measuring 21 ft in length was captured after a fierce battle by fishermen off Havana, Cuba. It weighed 7.302 lb.

 The longest of the bony or "true" fishes (Pisces) is the Russian sturgeon (Acipenser huso), also called the Beluga, which is found in the tem perate areas of the Adriatic, Black and Caspian Seas, but enters large rivers like the Volga and the Danube for spawning. Lengths up to 26 ft3 in have been reliably reported, and a gravid female taken in the estuary of the Volga in 1827 weighed 3.250 lb. 

The heaviest bony fish in the world is the ocean sunfish (Mola mola which is found in all tropical, sub-tropical and temperate waters. On Sep 18. 1908 a huge specimen was accidentally struck by the SS Fiona of Bird Island about 40 miles from Sydney, NSW, Australia, and towed to Port Jackson. It measured 14 ft between the anal and dorsal fins and weighed 5,017 1b.

Smallest Sea Fishes

The smallest recorded marine fishes are the Marshall Islands go by (Eviota zonura), measuring 0.47-0.63 in, and Schindleria praematurus film Samoa, measuring 0.47-0.74 in both in the Pacific Ocean. Mature specimens of the latter, largely transparent and first identified in 1940, have been known to weigh only 2 mg, equivalent to 17.750 to the o the lightest of all vertebrates and the smallest catch possible for any fisherman .

The smallest known shark is the long-faced dwarf shark (Squaliolus laticaudus) of the western Pacific. Adult specimens measure about 4.33 in long.

Smallest Freshwater Fish

The shortest known fish and the shortest of all vertebrates is the dwarf pygmy go by (Pandaka pygmaea), a colorless and nearly transparent fish found in streams and lakes on Luzon, the Philippines. Adult males measure only 0.28-0.38 in long and weigh only 4-5 mg (0.00014-0.00017 oz).

Fastest Fishes

The cosmopolitan sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) is generally consid ered to be the fastest species of fish, although the practical difficulties of measurement make data extremely difficult to secure. A figure of 68.1 mph (100 yd in 3 sec) has been cited for one off Fla. The swordfish (Xiphias gladius) has also been credited with very high speeds, but the evi dence is based mainly on bills that have been found deeply embedded in ships' timbers. 

A speed of 50 knots (57.6 mph) has been calculated from a penetration of 22 in by a bill into a piece of timber, hut 30-35 knotes (35-40mph) the most conceded by some expert . Speeds in excess of 35 knots (40 mph) have also been attributed to the marlin (Tetrapturus sp.), the wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri), the great blue shark (Prionance glauca), and the bonefish (Albula vulpes); and he bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) has been scientifically clocked at 43.4 mph in a 20-sec dash .The four-winged flying fish (Cypselurus heterururs) may also exceed 40 mph during its rapid rush to the surface before take-off the average speed the air is about 35 mph). Record flights of 90 sec, 36 ft in  altitude and 3,640 ft in length have been recorded in the tropical Atlantic.

Longest-Lived Fishes

Aquaria are of too recent origin to be able to establish with certainty which species of fishes fairly be regarded as the longest-lived. Early in dications are that it is the lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) of North America In one study of the growth rings (annuli) of 966 specimens caught in the Lake Winnebago , Wis region, 1951-54, the oldest sturgeon was found to be a male 6 ft 7 in long, which gave a reading of 82 year and was still growing. In July 1974 a figure of 228 years (sic) was attributed by growth ring count to a female Koi fish, a form of fancy carp named "Hanako" living in a pond in Higashi Shirakawa, Gifu Prefer ture, Japan, but the greatest authoritatively accepted age for this species is more than 30 years.

 The death of an 88-year-old female European eel (Anguilla anguilla named "Putte" in the aquarium at Helsingborg Museum, Sweden was reported in 1948, She was allegedly born in the Sargasso Sea of the North Atlantic in 1860, and was caught in a rivers a 3-year-old elver (young eel).

Oldest Goldfish

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) have been reported to live for over 4 years in China. A specimen named "Ted, owned by A R. Wilson of Worthing, Sussex. England, was still alive in April 1980, aged 41 years.

Shortest-Lived Fishes

The shortest-lived fishes are probably certain species of the suborder Cyprinodontie (killifish) found in Africa and South America which normally live about 8 months in the wild.

Most Abundant Fish

The most abundant species is the herring (Clupea harengus) which ha been estimated by marine biologists to number at least 1 million million in the Atlantic Ocean.

Deepest Fish

The greatest depth from which a fish has been recovered is 27,230 ft in  the Puerto Rico Trough (27,488 ft ) in the Atlantic by Dr Gilbert L. Voss of the US research vessel John Elliott. The fish was a 6 1/2 long Ba gigas profundissimus taken in Apr 1970 and was only the fifth such br ulid ever caught .

Dr Jacques Piccard and Lieutenant Don Walsh, US Navy, repor they saw a sole-like fish about 1 ft long (tentatively identified as scanopsetta lugubris) from the bathyscaphe Trieste at a depth of 35,802n in the Challenger Deep (Marianas Trench) in the western Pacific Jan 24, 1960. This sighting, however, has been questioned by some authorities, who still regard the brotulids of the genus Bassogigas as the deepest-living vertebrates

Most Venomous Fish

The most venomous fish is the stonefish (family Synanceidae) of the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific Direct contact with the spines of its fin which contain a strong neurotoxic poison, often proves fatal.

Most and Least Fish Eggs

The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) produces up to 300 million eggs each of them measuring about 0.05 in in diameter. The egg yield of the tooth carp Jordanella floridae of Florida is only about 20 over a period of several days.

Most Electric Fish

The most powerful electric fish is the electric eel (Electrophorus de tricus), which is found in the rivers of Brazil. Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. An average-sized specimen.can discharge 400 volts at I ampere, but measurements up to 650 volts have been recorded.