West Indian Manatee

Life of Sea | West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) | The West Indian Manatee is a manatee, and the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order Sirenia (which also Dugong and the extinct Steller's Sea Cow covers). The West Indian Manatee is a kind of detached from the Amazonian Manatee and the West African manatee. Can be distinguished by special attention to the head shape (shorter and wider rostrum in the West Indies), body color (lighter, usually without white belly spots in the West Indies), skin texture (coarser in the West Indies) and the presence / absence of nails on the flippers (present in the West Indies).

West Indian manatees are plump, with broad back, and have for a long, flexible legs and rounded, paddle-like tail. The head is small, with no perceptible neck, and body showed many folds and fine wrinkles. The square, thick fleshy snout and mobile lips (with strong hairs on the upper lip) and two semi-circular nostrils at the front. Each has 3-4 fingernails at the end. The skin is very rough and thick, and has fine hairs sparsely distributed over the surface. The color of the skin is usually gray to brown, sometimes with green, red, white or black color is caused by algae and / or geese growth. The short hairs are colorless. Calves appear a darker shade of gray, almost black. There bicuspid post-canines/molars 5-7 pairs in each jaw. At the forward or lost teeth are worn, they are replaced from the rear. Females tend to be slightly larger than males.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Subphylum:     Vertebrata
Class:     Mammalia
Order:     Sirenia
Family:     Trichechidae
Genus:     Trichechus
Species:     T. manatus

West Indian manatees are found in the coastal marine, brackish and freshwater areas of the southeastern U.S. coast, tropical / subtropical Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic coast of northeastern South America. The West Indian Manatee is surprisingly agile in the water, and individuals are seen doing rolls, somersaults, and even swimming upside down. Manatees are not territorial and do not have complex predator avoidance behavior, as they have developed in areas without natural enemies. The common enemies of sea mammals such as orcas and large sharks are rarelyfound in habitats occupied by this species.

West Indian manatees are slow and lethargic, and may be very difficult to observe because they are generally only exposed the tip of the snout and possibly the upper back when they emerge.They are usually seen only or in groups of up to six. However, certain groups of feed count to about 20. These animals are herbivores, eating a wide variety of aquatic plants like water hyacinths and marine seagrasses. At times in some areas, they also eat algae, parts of mangrove trees, floating and shoreline vegetation, fish and even remove them from fishing nets.

The West Indian manatee has been hunted for hundreds of years for meat and hide, and is still hunted on this day in Central and South America. Illegal poaching, but also collisions with speeding motorboats, are a constant source of manatee deaths. Manmade threats include vessel collisions, incidental kills in fishing nets and lines, the disruption of the boat traffic and other human activities, entrapment in flood structures, pollution (especially from pesticides and herbicides in Central America), the inclusion of plastic waste, loss and degradation of habitat, and intimidation by ecotourists.

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Tucuxi

Life of Sea | Tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) | Tucuxi or alternately Bufeo gris Bufeo negro (both in Peru) is a dolphin found in the rivers of the Amazon basin. Tucuxi is derived from the Tupi language word tuchuchi-ana, and is now established as the common name of the species. Tucuxis are almost exclusively freshwater animals, occur in the Amazon River and possibly the Orinoco system also. This species can be distinguished according to Amazon River dolphin. The differences in size, color, dorsal fin shape, head shape and behavior are the best evidence for distinguishing them. The Tucuxi costero and may be sympatric in the waters near the mouth of the Amazon River, and it would be almost impossible to distinguish them 'at sea. "

These small dolphin is similar to the rocker arm in the general shape of the body. It is considerably smaller than its peers. It is quite thick, with a moderately long and narrow beak and broad flippers. The dorsal fin that is shorter and more triangular and broad-based than in the tumbler. Sometimes it is bent back at the tip. The Tucuxi has a rounded melon, not of the mouth separated by a distinct fold. On the upper surface is dark-blue or brownish-gray, fading to light gray or white on the belly. There is a broad, somewhat ill-defined stripe from the eye to the flipper with a clear lower boundary between the dark above and light below. A lateral surface of the lighter gray is present behind the flipper, and another side of the mid-body to the anus. The flipper and tail fins are dark gray on the underside.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Mammalia
Order:     Cetacea
Family:     Delphinidae
Genus:     Sotalia
Species:     S. fluviatilis

The Tucuxi exists in small groups of about 10-15 people, and swimming in close groups, suggesting a highly developed social structure. Tucuxis are very active and can jump out of the water (a behavior known as infringement), somersault, spy-hop or tail-splash. However, they are unlikely to boats approaching. Tucuxis been observed to feed with other river dolphins. They feed on a large number of fish. Studies of the growth layers suggest that the species up to 35 years. They do not bow ride, but they are sometimes very active, with several jumps and other types as seen from the air behavior.

Tucuxis are generally shy and elusive. During the rainy season, animals may move into smaller tributaries, but apparently not to move into the flooded forest to feed (such as Amazon dolphins often do) remain especially in the main river channels, tributaries and lakes. Tucuxis are largely sympatric with botos in the Amazon system, but generally no contact with them (although they are known to do that sometimes). Tucuxi feeds a large variety of fish, mostly small schools species are eaten. Power is both individually and in groups.

There are no global estimates of abundance are available, and estimates only for specific parts of the series are made. The Tucuxi is taken in fishing gear, particularly gillnets and seines, in many areas of the range. Damming rivers has also contributed to problems for this species. Additional threats are the harmful effects of mercury in gold mining, habitat loss destruction, ship collisions, environmental pollution, and behavioral disorders. In the past, live captures have also led to the loss of some animals. The species is not uncommon, and in many parts of the Amazon river system is actually quite plentiful. It comes in some of the highest densities known for any species of cetaceans, and get some protection because of myths and legends that killing to discourage.

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Bryde's whale

Life of Sea | Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) | Bryde's whales are baleen whales, the "great whales" or rorquals. They prefer tropical and temperate waters over the polar seas that other whales in their family frequent. They are largely coastal rather than pelagic. Bryde's whales are very similar in appearance to sei whales and almost as large. This species has a circumglobal distribution and is found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Bryde's whales are found both offshore and near the coast in many areas, and tend to inhabit areas of unusually high productivity. They extend into some enclosed seas, such as the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Mammalia
Subclass:     Eutheria
Order:     Cetacea
Suborder:     Mysticeti
Family:     Balaenoptiidae
Genus:     Balaenoptera
Species:     brydei, edeni, omurai

For many years, whalers and field observers did not distinguish between Bryde's whale and sei whales in their records. Bryde's whales have a very streamlined and sleek body shape. Most Bryde's whales have three prominent ridges on the rostrum (other rorquals generally have only one). The Bryde's whale's dorsal fin is tall and falcate and generally rises abruptly out of the back, a feature that will help distinguish this species (and sei whales) from fin whales, in which the dorsal fin rises at a relatively shallow angle from the back. The flukes are broad with a relatively straight trailing edge. Bryde's whales often exhale underwater, then surface with little or no visible blow. Bryde's whales have a relatively simple, countershaded color pattern, and are dark gray dorsally and lighter ventrally. The 250-370 pairs of gray baleen plates have light gray fringes, which are relatively coarse. The longest plates reach about 40 cm.

Bryde's whales are most likely to be confused with sei whales, and less likely with Fin and Omura's whales. Careful attention to body size, dorsal fin shape and position, head shape, and color pattern will help to distinguish among the four. The three head ridges of Brycle's whales (sei and fin whales always appear to have just one medial ridge), and much larger size and symmetrical head coloration of fin whales will help make them distinguishable from Bryde's whale. Also, pay particular attention to the tip of the upper jaw, which is generally bquite flat in Bryde's whales this species are not known to make extensive north/south migrations, as do other species of baleen whale, although short migrations have been documented in some areas. 

Their blow is columnar or bushy, about 10–13 feet high. Sometimes they blow or exhale while under water. Bryde's whales display seemingly erratic behavior compared to other baleens, because they surface at irregular intervals and can change directions for unknown reasons. They usually appear individually or in pairs, and occasionally in loose aggregations of up to twenty animals around feeding areas. Not much is known of the ecology of the Bryde's whale. Although generally seen alone or in pairs, Bryde's whales do aggregate into groups of up to 10-20 on feeding grounds.

Bryde's whales are primarily schooling-fish eaters (common prey species include pilchard, anchovy, sardine, mackerel, and herring), but they also take squid, krill, pelagic red crabs, and other invertebrates. They are very active lunge feeders, often changing direction abruptly when going after mobile fish prey. They have also been observed using bubble nets to corral prey. These whales opportunistically feed on plankton, and crustaceans, as well as schooling fish (e.g., anchovy, herring, sardine, mackerel, and pilchard). Bryde's whale use several feeding methods, including skimming the surface, lunging, and bubble nets.

Bryde's whales were never hunted as heavily as their larger cousins, the blue, fin, and sei whales. Fewer than 8,000 were killed in the Southern Hemisphere in the 1900s. Due to this fact, most populations of the Bryde's whale have not been seriously depleted. In recent years, some Bryde's whales have been taken by the Japanese in the North Pacific, and low numbers of small whales have been killed by artisanal whalers from villages in Indonesia. There are no estimates of global abundance. The species is not considered to be endangered or threatened, and at least the western North Pacific stock is thought to be increasing. Habitat modification and noise disturbance may be additional human-caused threats.

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Life of Anglerfish

Life of Sea | Anglerfish | Anglerfish are members of the teleost order Lophiiformes. They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation in which a fleshy growth from the head of the fish serves as a lure, this is considered analogous to fish. Some Anglerfish are pelagic, benthic and others. Some live in the deep sea, and others on the continental shelf. They are everywhere. Pelagic forms are most laterally (sideways) compressed whereas the benthic forms are often extremely dorsoventrally compressed (depressed) often with large upward pointing mouths. The Anglerfish is an incredible example of how living organisms can be a way to survive, even in the most inhospitable surroundings. There are over 200 kinds of fishermen, their name to their way of 'fishing' for their food. A spine of the dorsal fin acts as a 'rod', paid with a fleshy "bait" that is often light. Other fish are attracted to this lure and eaten. 
Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Actinopterygii
Subclass:     Neopterygii
Infraclass:     Teleostei
Order:     Lophiiformes

Anglerfish has a massive head, with grotesque features. It has a large crescent-shaped mouth, with plenty of sharp pointed teeth. It has a flat white belly region, the upper half of the body taking a broad expansive posture. Color varies from greenish brown to blackish gray, with speckled and spotted markings. The head and body have a vague outline caused by the presence of numerous small flaps of skin. The gill slits are behind and below the base of the pectoral fins. Along the middle of the line of the head and front part of the body, are a series of separate beams. Above the pectoral fins rise to the first dorsal fin. The main section of the stacks form long spines. The most important of which is normally a fleshy tip that the fish used as bait to lure its prey.
Some Anglerfish, such as the Ceratioid (Ceratiidae, or sea devils), employ an unusual method of coverage. Because humans are presumably locally rare and encounters doubly so, finding a mate is problematic. When scientists first started capturing ceratioid anglerfish, they noticed that all copies are females. These individuals were a few centimeters in size and almost all of them had what appeared to be parasites attached to them. It turned out that these "parasites" were strong men ceratioids reduced. A family Lophiidae is of commercial importance to fisheries in the Northwest of Europe, eastern North America, Africa and the Far East. In Europe and North America, the tail meat of fish of the genus Lophius, known as fish-GOOS (North America) or monkfish, is widely used in cooking, and is often compared to lobster tail in taste and texture. In Asia, especially Korea and Japan, is a delicacy.
Another unusual adaptation in Anglerfish is their sexual dimorphism. The males are very small compared to the females, and live as permanent parasites on the female. The male attaches itself by biting, the body of the female. His mouth fuses with her skin, and blood vessels of the two fish connected. The male is entirely dependent on the female for food. In fact, the man starts to degenerate. Eyes are smaller and he eventually loses. His internal organs disappear. The man is simply a source of sperm. The young are planktonic, with a remarkably elongated fin rays.

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Life of Axolotl

Life of Sea | Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) | The Axolotl is a neotenic salamander, closely related to the Tiger Salamander. Larvae of this species do not undergo metamorphosis, so the adults remain aquatic and gills. It is also called Ajolote (which is also a common name for several species of salamander). The species comes from a large number of lakes, including Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City. Axolotls are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate limbs. Axolotls should not be confused with water dogs, the larval stage of the closely related Tiger Salamanders, which are widespread in many parts of North America and occasionally neotenic, nor with mudpuppies, fully aquatic salamanders which are not closely related the Axolotl, but have a superficial resemblance. 
Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Amphibia
Order:     Caudata
Family:     Ambystomatidae
Genus:     Ambystoma
Species:     A. mexicanum

Axolotls are often called "Mexican walking fish," but they are not fish. They belong to a group of amphibians called salamanders. Salamanders are amphibians that are a bit like lizards, except that they are covered with a soft damp skin, not scales. Axolotls possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent. Their heads are broad and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped and have long, thin digits. The males are recognizable by their swollen cloacae lined with papillae, while females are noticeable for their wider bodies full of eggs. Three pairs of external gills steal (rami) originate behind their heads and are used to move oxygenated water. The external gills rami are lined with filaments (fimbriae) to increase the surface area for gas exchange. Four gill slits lined with Gill Rakers are hidden under the external gills. Axolotls have barely visible vestigial teeth which would have developed during metamorphosis.
The Axolotl is only native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in central Mexico. Unfortunately for the Axolotl, Lake Chalco no longer exists because it was artificially drained periodically to prevent flooding, and Lake Xochimilco remains a diminished glimpse of its former self, existing mainly as canals. The water temperature in Xochimilco rarely exceed 20 ° C (68 ° F), but it may fall to 6 or 7 ° C (45 ° F) in winter, and perhaps lower. The wild population is put under heavy pressure by the growth of Mexico City. Axolotls are also sold as food in Mexican markets and became a staple in the Aztec diet. They are currently listed by CITES as an endangered species and by IUCN as Endangered with a decreasing population. Axolotls find their food by sight and by smell. They are carnivorous, consuming small prey such as worms, insects and small fish in the wild. Axolotls to find food by smell, and will "snap" at any meal, sucking the food into their stomachs with vacuum force.
Today, the Axolotl is still used in the study as a model organism, and large numbers are bred in captivity. Axolotls are especially easy to grow compared to other salamanders in their family, who almost never offspring due to the demands of terrestrial life. An attractive feature of the study is large and easy to manipulate embryos, thus viewing the full development of a vertebrate. Axolotls are used in heart defect studies due to the presence of a mutant gene that causes heart failure in embryos. Since the embryos survive almost to hatching with no heart function, the defect is very observable. The presence of multiple color variants has also been extensively investigated.
The hallmark of the salamander that attracts most attention is the healing power: the Axolotl can not be cured by scarring and is capable of regenerating the entire lost appendages in a period of months, and, in some cases, more vital structures. Some have indeed been found restoring the less vital parts of their brains. They can also readily accept transplants from other individuals, including eyes and parts of the brains-restoring these alien organs to full functionality. In some cases, Axolotls are known to repair a damaged limb and regenerating an extra end with an extra appendage that makes them attractive to pet owners as a novelty. In metamorphosed individuals, however, is the ability to regenerate fallen sharply. The axolotl is therefore used as a model for the development of limbs in vertebrates.

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Life of Fangtooths

Life of Sea | Fangtooths (Anoplogaster cornuta) | Fangtooths are beryciform fish of the family Anoplogastridae (sometimes spelled "Anoplogasteridae") who live in the deep sea. The name is from Greek anoplo means "unarmed" and gaster means "belly". With a Circumglobal distribution in tropical and temperate waters cold, the family contains only two very similar species in a genus with no known relatives: the common fangtooth fish, Anoplogaster cornuta, found worldwide, and shorthorned fangtooth fish, Anoplogaster brachycera, found in tropical waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. 
Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Actinopterygii
Order:     Beryciformes
Family:     Anoplogastridae
Genus:     Anoplogaster
Günther, 1859
Species:     A. brachycera
A. cornuta

The Fangtooths fish has the largest teeth of any fish in the ocean, in proportion to body length. The young are morphologically very different - unlike adults, they have long spines on the head and preoperculum, larger eyes, a functional gas bladder, long and slender gill Rakers, much smaller and can be pressed teeth, and a light gray color. These differences when the two life stages should be regarded as separate species, with one in another genus is caused Caulolepsis.While understandably named for their disproportionately large, Fang-like teeth and unapproachable face fangtooth fish are actually quite small and harmless to humans : the larger of the two species, the common fangtooth fish, reaching a maximum length of only 6 cm, the short thorn Fangtooths fish was about half this size.
The head is small with a big mouth and looks bewildered, filled with mucus cavities delineated by serrated edges and covered with a thin skin. The eyes are relatively small, high on the head, the whole head is dark brown to black and strongly laterally compressed, deep furrows and gradually thinner towards the tail. The fins are small, simple and cowardly, the scales are embedded in the skin and the shape of thin plates. As compensation for reduced eyes, the lateral line is well developed and appears as an open slot along the flanks.
Pelagic Fangtooths are among the deepest-living fish as far as 5,000 meters down found. They are more commonly found among the 200 - 2000 meters, however, and apparently people stay in the upper reaches of this series. They can undergo Diel migrations as is common with many deep-sea fish: by day these fish remain in the gloomy depths and towards evening they rise into the upper layers of the water column to feed by starlight, returning to deep water by daybreak . Fangtooth fish can form small schools or go alone. They are supposed to use to contact chemoreception to find prey, relying on luck to bump into something edible.
The smaller teeth and longer gill Rakers of juveniles suggest they feed primarily by filtering zooplankton from the water, while deeper living adults target other fish and squid. The fangtooth fish 'oversized teeth and mouth are a common feature among the miniature beasts of the deep, thought to be an advantage in these lean waters where anything found to be (even if it is larger than the fish) should be considered as a potential meal. The fangtooth fish in turn attacked by other large pelagic fish such as tuna and marlin. 
Fangtooths are known as robust compared to many other deep sea fish, they are kept alive for months in the aquarium when the circumstances are very different from their usual deep-sea habitat. Fangtooth fish have planktonic larvae and are considered non-Guarder, spawning frequency and time are not sure. The youth of the common fangtooth fish begin to mature form of about three inches in length, at which point they begin to descend into deeper water. Beginning of the term is not known, but often fangtooth fish are known to mature at 6 inches. They are probably slow-growing, like most deep sea fish.

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