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What kind of fish is a "Bombay Duck"?
Also called bummalo, Bombay Duck is a marine lizardfish from southern
Asia, particularly abundant in the Ganges Delta and the Arabian Sea
of western India. The ordinarily small fish is split, boned, and
sun-dried, and used as a condiment.
 How much electricity does
an electric eel generate?
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The average discharge is more than 350 volts, but discharges as high as
650 volts have been measured. Voltage increase until the eel is about
three feet long, after which only amperage increases. Some South
American eels measure 10 feet in length.
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What are moray eels and where are they found?
Moray eels belong to a family of fish which differs from the common
eels by their lack of side fins, their well-developed teeth, and their
lack of scales. Common eels have embedded scales, but these are not readily noticeable.
Morays occur in tropical and subtropical seas of
the world. In the United States. they are usually found in quantity
only in Florida waters, although they have been seen as far north as
North Carolina and even New Jersey.
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Little is known of their breeding
habits except that the young pass through a stage which is very thin,
ribbonlike, and transparent. Morays feed largely on other fish caught
as they work their way through coral reefs. Some morays are equipped
with teeth in the back of the mouth for crushing hard-shelled animals
such as clams and oysters. Morays are occasionally caught on hook and
Morays are occasionally caught on hook and
line by fishermen, sometimes are captured by trawlers that drag nets
over the bottom. People in some parts of the world value the moray as
food. Some Pacific morays measure as long as 10 feet and are
considered dangerous to man when aggressions are aroused, generally by
divers' actions. Several records exist of attacks on humans by wounded
morays.
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What is pearl essence?
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It is the silvery substance in the skin of herring and other fishes.
Pearl essence is a lucrative byproduct of herring fisheries inasmuch
as it is essential to the manufacture of lipstick, nail polish, paints,
ceramics, and costume jewelry.
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Is the blue shark really blue?
Blue Shark © Fian Arroyo
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In life the blue shark displays a brilliant blue color on the upper
portion of its body and is normally snowy white beneath. The blue
quickly fades to dull grey after the shark is killed. The mako and
porbeagle sharks also exhibit a blue coloration, but it is not nearly
as brilliant as that of a blue shark. In life most sharks are
brown, olive, or grayish.
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If sharks have cartilage instead of bones how can they fossilize?
Yes, shark skeletal systems ARE composed of cartilage, the clear gristly stuff that your ears and nose tip are made
of. And, you are correct that in its pure form, it doesn't fossilize. However...as most sharks age, they deposit
calcium salts in their skeletal cartilage to strengthen it. The dried jaws of a shark appear and feel heavy and solid;
much like bone. These same minerals allow most shark skeletal systems to fossilize quite nicely. The teeth have
enamel so they show up in the fossil record too.
  
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