oceans

WATERY WEDNESDAY # 45

Today we’re taking the E & E sub to the Mediterranean Sea to find a creature who hides in the sand of the ocean floor and has a charge! Are you ready? We’ve got plenty of room in the sub!

MEET THE MARBLED ELECTRIC RAY!

   Range/Habitat: Eastern Atlantic-Mediterranean Ocean

   Diet: Carnivore: fish

   Length/Weight: up to 23 ½”/ 22- 29 lbs

   Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

• Marbled electric rays are brownish gray in color. Their coloration helps them camouflage in their habitat.
• They rest in sand on the ocean floor.
• Their skeletons are made of cartilage (the same tissue that makes up your ears and nose).
• Marbled electric rays use an electrical charge to kill their prey.
• Marbled electric rays can be harmful to humans.
• They are diurnal (active during the day).

Wow, these rays actually use their own electrical charges to catch prey! Isn’t that cool? We just want to know where they plug themselves into to charge up at the bottom of the ocean J!

 WATERY WENESDAY # 44

We’re going diving today to meet one cute and little fish! Look carefully because they may be hard to spot as often it is only their heads that are visible in the sea bed! Do you have your gear? Let’s dive in!

MEET THE YELLOWHEAD JAWFISH!

   Range/Habitat: Caribbean-Northern South American oceans/reefs-

coastal waters

   Diet: Carnivore: plankton, small fish

   Length: up to 4”

   Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

• Yellowhead Jawfish have yellow heads and translucent blue bodies.
• They are very small.
• Yellowhead jawfish live in sandy ocean bottoms.
• Yellowhead jawfish build burrows in the sand or coral.
• They are very territorial.
• Male yellowhead jawfish incubate the eggs in their mouths. They place the eggs in their burrow when they feed.

Yellowhead jawfish are so funny and cute! It is super cool to meet a fish dad who incubates the eggs! Fish are so amazing and different, from the very small to the very big!

WATERY WEDNESDAY GREATEST HITS!

On this Water Wednesday we went to a coral reef to find a comical fish! Ok, this fish really isn’t that funny, but it is named after clowns and they’re usually funny, unless you’re scared of them! Let’s meet this fun fish…

MEET THE CLOWN TRIGGERFISH!

   Range/Habitat: Pacific-Indian Oceans/Coral reefs

   Diet: Carnivore: mollusks, crustaceans

   Length/Weight: up to 20”/up to 4 ½ lbs

   Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

• Clown triggerfish are very colorful.
• They have strong and sharp teeth for crushing the shells of their prey.
• Clown triggerfish can wedge in cracks and crevices of the reef when threatened by predators.
• They usually do not use their tail fin to swim. They use their dorsal (top) and anal (bottom) fins to swim!
• Clown triggerfish are very territorial.
• Both male and female clown triggerfish protect the nest of eggs until they hatch.

These crazy looking Clown triggerfish sure are cool! If you could create your very own fish, what colors would you use?