When the first platypus specimen was sent back to England from Australia in the late 18th century, the scientists who examined it thought that someone was playing a trick on them. "It naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means", zoologist George Shaw wrote in the first scientific description of the platypus, published in 1799. One of the most remarkable and weird aspects of the platypus—its ability to lay eggs—wasn't discovered for another 100 years.
Sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal. Their fur contains between 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch. Unlike most other marine mammals, otters lack a blubber layer. Instead, they depend on their dense, water-resistant fur to provide insulation. To keep warm, sea otters spend a large portion of their days grooming and conditioning their fur. This traps air and heat next to their skin.
Florida-strain largemouth bass grow faster than their northern counterparts. Florida-strain largemouth bass generally reach a weight of about 10 pounds in 8 years. A Northern-strain largemouth, in contrast, would generally weigh about 5 pounds at the same age.
As larvae, sea urchins have bilateral symmetry, meaning you can split their bodies into two halves that mirror each other. After becoming adults, though, they develop 5-fold symmetry, meaning you can split their bodies into five sections that mirror each other.
In the wild Corydora are found in the shallow and murky parts of small streams, rivers, marshes and ponds primarily in South America. Due to the nature of murky waters, they tend to have very little flow and contain low levels of oxygen. As a result, the Corydora will often swim to the surface of the water, ingest some air and then re-submerge itself. Fish and catfish get their oxygen from the water with their gills. Species like the Corydora have evolved in order to gain the ability to thrive in low oxygen environments. This gives them access to food sources that most other species without these abilities do not have access to.
The ocean twilight zone is a layer of water that stretches around the globe. It lies 200 to 1,000 meters (about 650 to 3,300 feet) below the ocean surface, just beyond the reach of sunlight. It is also known as the midwater or mesopelagic. Animals in the twilight zone range in size from microscopic to among the largest on the planet. Some organisms spend their lives in its shadowy depths, while others travel to and from the surface every day in the largest animal migration on Earth. Animals in the twilight zone help support the ocean’s food web and transport huge amounts of carbon from surface waters into the deep ocean, helping to regulate global climate.
Kelpfishes are known to change colors to adapt to their surroundings, they do this to hunt their prey, which is other small fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, or to avoid becoming prey to bigger fish. Kelpfish do not grow very big, only about 8-16 in (20-40cm), but Giant Kelpfish are known to grow up to 31 ft (80 cm) in length. The large Kelpfish species (Chironemus marmoratus), is called 'hiwihiwi' in New Zealand.
Until they spawn, kokanees are mostly silver, with a dark blue or silver back. There are small spots along the back and the tail. Spawning fish undergo a remarkable transformation, as the body turns bright red and the head a dark green. Male kokanees also develop a pronounced hump on the back and a fierce-looking hooked kype.
In spring and summer, thousands of puffins gather in colonies on the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic Ocean to breed. They usually pair up with the same partner as previous years – some may have been together for 20 years!
Lake trout typically spend most of their time in deep water. This is one of the primary reasons why they can be extremely elusive to anglers. However, do you really know why they like to be deep? The answer, in most bodies of water is that the lake trout are following the thermocline which is a temperature gradient in the water. If you’ve ever been on a big deep lake and you see a mess of interference on your sonar, chances are you could be looking at the thermocline. Lake trout typically like to hangout just under the thermocline where there is colder, more oxygenated water, and most forage such as ciscos. Therefore, especially in summer, if you’re looking for lake trout in a deep lake, look for the thermocline on your sonar and you might get lucky.