Deep Sea Fish

Halibut

A halibut is a brand of flatfish from the family of the right-eye flounders (Pleuronectidae). This name is derived from haly (holy) and butt (flat fish), suspected to be called so from being frequently eaten on holy-days. Halibut live in both the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans and are highly regarded food fish.

The Halibut is the major of all flat fish, with an average weight of about 25 - 30 lb (11 - 13½ kg), but they can grow to be as much as 431 lbs (196 kg). The Halibut is blackish-grey on the top side and off-white on the underbelly side. When the Halibut is born the eyes are on both sides of its head, and it swims like a salmon. After about 6 months one eye will migrate to the other side of its head, making it look more like the flounder. This happens at the same time that the stationary eyed side begins to develop a blackish-grey pigment while the other side remains white. This disguises a halibut from above (blending with the ocean floor) and from below (blending into the light from the sky).

Herring

Herring are tiny, oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the thin, temperate waters of the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, the North Pacific, and the Mediterranean. There are 15 species of herring, the most plentiful of which is the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus).[citation needed] Herrings move in huge schools, pending in spring to the shoreline of Europe and America, where they are caught, salty and smoked in great quantities. Canned "sardines" (or pilchards) seen in supermarkets may actually be sprats or round herrings.

Kingfish

"Kingfish" is used as the dialect name of a series of fish. The king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) is a wandering species of mackerel that lives its whole life in the open waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It is an important kind to both the marketable and frivolous fishing industries. Menticirrhus americanus - Southern Kingfish: This kind grows to 20 inches (51 cm) in length. Seven to eight dark bands mark the sides which shade from grayish above to almost white on the belly. They are originate from the Western Caribbean Sea to Cape Cod over sand or mud in rock bottom of at least 5 feet (1.5 m). This species is prized for its flesh, and is fished both commercially and recreationally.

John Dory

John Dory, also known as St Pierre. The John Dory grows to a maximum size of 65cm (25.6") and 3kg (6.6lb) in weight. It has 10 long spines on its dorsal fin and 4 spines on its anal fin. It has microscopic, sharp scales that run around the body. The fish is an olive green color with a silvery white belly and has a dark spot on its side. Its eyes are near the top of its head. It has an even, round body figure and is a poor swimmer. The John Dory is the top marauder in its habitat. It usually gets its food by aggravation it then shooting out a tube in its mouth to capture its prey. The John Dory eats a diversity of fish, especially schooling fish, such as sardines. Occasionally they eat squid and cuttlefish.

Lamprey

A lamprey (lamprey eel) is a jawless fish with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. While lampreys are well identified for those variety which bore into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood, these variety make up the marginal. In zoology, lampreys are often not measured to be true fish because of their very much different morphology and physiology.

Lampreys initiate life as burrowing freshwater larvae. At this stage, they are toothless, have basic eyes, and provide for on microorganisms. This larval stage can last five to seven years and so was initially thought to be an independent organism. They renovate into adults in a transmutation which is at least as radical as that seen in amphibians. It involves a radical reshuffle of internal organs, expansion of eyes and transformation from a mud-dwelling filter feeder into an efficient swimming parasite/predator that classically moves to the sea. The adult feeds by attaching its mouth to a fish, secreting an anticoagulant to the host, and feeding on the blood and tissues of the host. In most species this segment lasts about 18 months.

Mackerel

Mackerel is a general name applied to a number of dissimilar species of fish, mostly, but not completely, from the family Scombridae. They occur in all hot and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus), enter bays and can be wedged near bridges and piers. Common features of mackerels are a slim, cylindrical form (as opposed to the tunas which are deeper bodied) and numerous finlets on the dorsal and ventral sides behind the dorsal and anal fins. The scales are extremely small, if present. The largest species called "mackerel" is the king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) which can grow to 66 inches (1.68 m). A female mackerel lays about 500,000 eggs at a time.

Mullet

The mullets or grey mullets are a folks (Mugilidae) of ray-finned fish start worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and in some species in fresh water also.[1] Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times. The family includes about 80 species in 17 genera.Mullets are distinguished by the presence of two separate dorsal fins, small triangular mouths, and the absence of a lateral line organ. They feed on debris, and most species have unusually muscular stomachs and a multifaceted pharynx to help in incorporation.

Orange roughy

The orange roughy, red roughy, or deep sea perch, Hoplostethus atlanticus, is a comparatively large deep-sea fish belonging to the slimehead family (Trachichthyidae). This fish is categorized as defenseless to development by the Marine Conservation Society. It is found in cold (3 to 9 °C), deep (bathypelagic, 180 to 1,800 m) waters of the western Pacific Ocean, eastern Atlantic (from Iceland to Morocco; and from Walvis Bay, Namibia, to off Durban, South Africa), Indo-Pacific (off New Zealand and Australia), and in the Eastern Pacific off Chile. The orange roughy is notable for its unexpected lifetime — a recorded (disputed by commercial fishers but supported by scientists) maximum of 149 years — and importance to profitable deep trawl fishery. Actually a bright brick red in life, the orange roughy fades to a yellowish orange after death.

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