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Friday, February 24, 2006

A Friday Puzzler




???













Here's a Friday puzzler for you.

What in the world is that thing?

It's being held by a few cropped and anonymous ex-students of mine on a fieldtrip to Cedar Key. (That was a vague and mostly useless clue)

Update with answer coming later this evening.


UPDATE TO THE PUZZLER: ...AND THE ANSWER IS.....JEEZ, I WAS JUST GOING FOR BATFISH, BUT THEN YOU NERDS STARTING BANDYING ABOUT "POLKA DOT" AND "SHORT NOSED" ....THIS PHOTO IS TWO YEARS OLD AND THE ANGLE ISN'T GREAT FOR CHECKING THE FINS FOR POLKADOTS. MY UF FISH SITE SAYS THE POLKA DOT BATFISH IS RARE...THESE GUYS ARE VERY COMMON AT CEDAR KEY...I'M LEANING TOWARDS SHORTNOSE, BUT IT IS DEFINITELY A NICE LITTLE BATFISH. WE DID RETURN HIM TO THE SEA AND HE HOPPED AWAY. THAT'S RIGHT, HE HOPPED AWAY. SLOWLY. YOU CAN WALK UP TO A BATFISH AND PICK HIM UP.

I THINK WAYNE GETS THE 'FIRSTEST WITH THE MOSTEST AWARD ON THIS PUZZLER. GOOD BACKUP FROM THE REST OF THE ICHTHYOLOGISTS WHO COMMENTED.

DYNAMIC DUO = BATFISH AND SEA ROBIN... I need a sea robin pic.

THANKS FOR PLAYING!Posted by Picasa
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25 comments:

  1. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 7:03:00 AM

    My guess: it's some kind of fish. I want a prize if I'm correct!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ThunderFriday, February 24, 2006 7:40:00 AM

    I think it's a dried up toad fish!

    Remind me never to accept "Beef jerky" from you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 8:53:00 AM

    Batfish! (Or, as I tell my students with regard to pronunciation only: speak with authority and they'll never question you.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 8:54:00 AM

    Maybe even a polka-dot batfish!

    Do I get any crackerpoints for that?

    ReplyDelete
  5. DebFriday, February 24, 2006 9:49:00 AM

    I'm with everyone so far; some variety of Pisciformes that I don't have here in Minnesota.

    ReplyDelete
  6. doubleknotFriday, February 24, 2006 10:37:00 AM

    It is a fish and I have caught them but I will be darn if I can remember the name.

    ReplyDelete
  7. robin andreaFriday, February 24, 2006 10:54:00 AM

    I'm going to agree with the smart ones who have answered here already. It's a batfish. I feel like I'm cheating, but I read their answers and I did not have one of my own.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 11:35:00 AM

    Hey, RD - only *one* person answered "batfish". I want them crackerpoints!
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 12:03:00 PM

    It sort of looks like a Sea Robin. The head is a little flatter though. I've caught a few of them over here in the river. They have a real hard, bony head. Some get a lot bigger than the one in the picture.

    Toadfish have a rounder head and big mouth. I don't know about a bat fish.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 12:14:00 PM

    Whew - for just a brief moment I thought Kevin might have scooped me, but no, those crackpoints are mine!

    Batfish!

    ReplyDelete
  11. OldHorsetailSnakeFriday, February 24, 2006 12:21:00 PM

    A mutant rockfish? A baby coelecanth? A radiated mudskipper? A piece of bark from the Yum Yum Tree? I give.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The MacBean GeneFriday, February 24, 2006 1:01:00 PM

    Are they ex-students beause it ate them? It's a fish, that was easy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sandy Hatcher-WallaceFriday, February 24, 2006 1:07:00 PM

    It's a short-nosed batfish (Ogcocephalus nasutos).

    I can't see it very clearly in your picture, but if the pectoral fins are polkadotted, then it's a batfish.

    And if the fins are plain, then it's the shornose batfish.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 2:11:00 PM

    I think batfish wins. I've never seen one, but thanks to you and google I have. The sea robin's head is longer and more narrow. Whomever identified first, good eye.

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 4:02:00 PM

    i think this fish is a puffer fish tmart

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 4:09:00 PM

    dadadadadadadada dadadadadadad
    Batfish!

    Who knows. I was wrong about the fiddler crabs!

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 5:08:00 PM

    Really, DPR - you know very well that FC's slumming over at the Bums while everyone here is sweating bullets trying to figure out his puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
  18. benningFriday, February 24, 2006 6:45:00 PM

    All I was goona say was "fish". LOL

    Well, it looks like a really ugly fish. ; )

    ReplyDelete
  19. R.PowersFriday, February 24, 2006 7:19:00 PM

    Hey Y'all,
    Since I updated with the answer, I'm doing a "blanky thanky" as the Pirate would say.

    I want you to know, it was a busy day and I really needed the laughs from your back and forth banter...it even spilled over into that hippy blog...which probably confused a few of the Bums nonPureFlorida reading commenters.
    You made my day. I thank you again.

    ReplyDelete
  20. AnonymousFriday, February 24, 2006 8:05:00 PM

    Well it was a lot of fun - thank you!
    I hope the hippies enjoyed your company.

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. threecollieFriday, February 24, 2006 9:52:00 PM

    I was all set to say batfish, really I was, even before I saw the answer....despite the fact that I live WAY inland in upstate NY...unless you count the river.

    ReplyDelete
  22. R.PowersFriday, February 24, 2006 10:08:00 PM

    Threecollie,
    I believe you.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Weary HagSaturday, February 25, 2006 4:08:00 PM

    Well, too late for the game, but I would never have known anyway.... thanks for another valuable lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  24. R.PowersSunday, February 26, 2006 9:19:00 PM

    Weary,
    Still good to hear from you even if you missed the batfish carnival.

    ReplyDelete
  25. R.PowersWednesday, March 01, 2006 11:32:00 AM

    Thing,
    Foregone conclusion...I knew you knew it.

    ReplyDelete

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