I had set up a large (50 gallon) aquarium just for this purpose and it has been a constant classroom distractor since we added the critters.
( I know I should pay more attention to my students, but this aquarium full of sea life distracts the hell out of me ... at least the kids are working.)
I took these shots yesterday after school to share with you.
(Yes, Dani and Doug, I know these are not hairstreaks ...)
The star of these photos is the searobin lying on the bottom in the top photo. He's being eyed by a file fish who feels it is his duty to test everything for edibility by nipping at it. The pinfish in the background has pretty much the same philosophy.
Searobins are neat little fish that creep around the bottom on clawlike fin rays. A pair of large pectoral fins add to the avian aspect, hence the name Sea Robin. Any small invertebrate or fish that swims near the searobin gets slurped up into what amounts to a pretty large mouth for such a small body.
Wikipedia says they have firm delicate flesh ... who doesn't?
I never considered eating one partly because they are usually a small fish around here ... plus they have a certain cute factor that protects them like the Enterprise's shields ... at least from me.
The googly-eyed blur in the foreground is a puffer fish who just had to check out the camera lens.
Puffers are a very endearing fish and deserve their own pesca post.
Don't let me fuguet to do that.
16 comments:
FC-
Cool looking fish! Sounds like you had a successful trip to Cedar Key! Ya know, we love that place!?!
Lightnin
Having read this post, I had a sudden urge to set up a similar aquariumm in our house! I think that would be more interesting to look at, although.. because it's salt water, a lot more work!
I can see why it would be distracting, but at least your students are "working" when they stare at the fish instead of out the window!
What do you do with the aquarium when you close up shop for the summer?
This is how I want my bedroom tank that I'm doing to look. But I'm gonna have to change it back to seahorses. I put them down in hubbys filter tank. He calls it something else like a refusion. It's a bottom tank that the top coral tank water goes through to get clean.I really should pay more attention. But the seahorses don't seem to like it.Big tank,lots of grass but nooo....
*aquariumm <---- a spelling error that occurs when the morning coffee hasn't kicked in yet.
I grew up on the South Jersey shore, where sea robins are common, and were considered a nuisance fish until the flounder population tanked.
They can get up to a foot long and a couple of pounds, and put up a decent fight - those 'wings' get a good bite in the water.
Up north, they have a reddish-brown color very close to the breast of a robin.
And yes, they are very tasty.
I grew up on the South Jersey shore, where sea robins are common, and were considered a nuisance fish until the flounder population tanked.
They can get up to a foot long and a couple of pounds, and put up a decent fight - those 'wings' get a good bite in the water.
Up north, they have a reddish-brown color very close to the breast of a robin.
And yes, they are very tasty.
Come on FC, sing it with me...
This is the fawning of the free range Aquarium, Aqariummmm...
Looks like quite a collection you got in there! Who needs anomenes with friends like that?
Love the variety of critters in the South. Beautiful work, FC!!
Fish stuff....I love it. They are really neat critters.
***Do I need new glasses or are those word verifications getting harder to read?
So cool it's radi-cool!
Do your students ever call you on your disattentionism?
You're right... puffers are pretty cool. Ever see a Dogface puffer? Like a little velvety dog head floating around. Kinda creepy, but definitely cool.
I miss saltwater critters; they have much more personality than their freshwater counterparts. I kept a Sgt. Major caught dipnetting near Anastasia for years. He would pick up shell chips and gravel and tap the tank glass when he felt he wasn't getting enough food or attention - too weird. (Well, mostly, maybe entirely, for food...)
Personally, I'm a bit concerned about reefs worldwide.
Nice tank, good variety, and great that kids? are getting to see ocean life as more than a boundless puddle to seine en masse.
Thanks for the warm welcome, FC. I am baaaack for my daily Floridafix.
One of my coworkers is a FC in exile. I make her homesick by telling Florida stories (mainly yours). :-)
I obviously agree with the file fish's philosophy.
We wait with baited breath. :)
Cool fish pictures. I get so accustomed to the usual freshwater fauna around here, it's nice to see something different.
Awesome pics. I keep hearing something about a "hairstreak"...so I had to google it. I think I have one, is this a Hairstreak ?
Arrrrghhh! No time this am to comment back... Sorry!
I'm late, I'm late, ...
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