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| Home | Sharks |
| A fish is an animal which lives and breathes in water. All fish are vertebrates (have a backbone) and most breathe through gills and have fins and scales. Fish make up about half of all known vertebrate species. | |
| Manta Ray |
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| The largest member of the ray family, the manta looks like a giant bat. It has been known to leap out of the water, occasionally destroying small fishing boats. Manta rays bear live young. The single fertilized egg develops inside the mother. The gestation period is unknown. It appears that mantas do not breed until their winglike pectoral fins reach a length of 13-15 feet. There is no specific breeding season: males and females mate year round. The newborns are fairly large, weighing 20-30 pounds, have fins that span 4 feet, and can generally protect themselves from predators. Manta rays feed mainly on shrimp and plankton, although they will occasionally eat small fish such as mullet.The manta's gill arches help it to feed by operating as a filtration system. During respiration, water is sucked in through the mouth and pumped out through the gill slits. The plankton that is sucked into the manta's mouth along with the water is caught by the gill arches and siphoned into its stomach. When mantas encounter a shoal of fish, they quickly move in to feed, swallowing as many fish as they can. |  |
| Moray Eel |
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There are 80 plus species of moray eel of the family Muraenidae. They differ from other eels in having small rounded gill openings and in generally lacking pectoral fins. Their skin is thick, smooth, and scaleless, Their mouth is wide, their jaws are equipped with strong, razor sharp teeth, which enable them to seize and hold onto their food (fishes, crustaceans and other small marine animals) and also to inflict serious wounds on their enemies, including humans. They will attack humans - but only when disturbed or provoked and they can be quite vicious. Moray eels are usually brightly marked or colored. They usually do not exceed a length of about 5 feet (1.5 meters), but one species, Thyrsoidea macrurus of the Pacific, grows to about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) long. Morays are eaten sometimes, but their flesh is often toxic and may cause sickness or death. They injure you with their razor sharp teeth and powerful jaws that allegedly can lock. Injuries can result in bleeding, severe muscle damage - also chipped bones. |
| Cowfish |
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| Cowfish are members of the Boxfish and Trunkfish families (Ostraciidae). All of these fish have rigid bodies made up of bony plates which cover them entirely except for the stomach. The only flexible part is the tail. Nature protects these slow, gentle fish by outfitting them with sharp spikes front and rear and by covering them with poisonous flesh. Despite being shy bottom feeders (they wont come to the surface to eat food), cowfish are very easy to feed. They will try almost anything that is offered but like algae and crustaceans in their diet. Cowfish can only swim backwards and forwards, they rely on the current underwater to turn them in the direction they want to go in |   |