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Special notes
The layout design for these subpages is at Portal:Fish/Selected fish/Layout.
- Each month, a new selected article is added to the next available subpage. Please see the nomination and selection for this section here.
- When an article is added, update "max=" to new total for its {{ Random portal component}} on the main page (this randomization feature will be implemented in the future when the fish portal has more articles).
"Selected fish of the month" archive
Selected fish 1
These popular aquarium fish have special cultural significance in areas influenced by Chinese culture. The name dragon fish stems from their resemblance to the Chinese dragon. This popularity has had both positive and negative effects on their status as endangered species.
Selected fish 2
The fish is highly toxic, but despite this — or perhaps because of it — it is considered a delicacy in Japan. Every year a number of people die because they underestimate the amount of poison in the consumed fish parts. The fish is featured prominently in Japanese art and culture.
Selected fish 3
Selected fish 4
Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. Research shows that usually at least 90% of the fish that spawn in a particular stream were born there. The precise method salmon use to navigate has not been entirely established, though their keen sense of smell is certainly involved. In all species of Pacific salmon, the mature individuals die within a few days or weeks of spawning, a trait known as semelparity. Other species average about two or, perhaps, three spawning events per individual.
Selected fish 5
Lampreys begin life as burrowing freshwater larvae (ammocoetes). At this stage, they are toothless, have rudimentary eyes, and feed on microorganisms. This larval stage can last five to seven years and hence was originally thought to be an independent organism. After these five to seven years, they transform into adults in a metamorphosis which is at least as radical as that seen in amphibians, and which involves a radical rearrangement of internal organs, development of eyes and transformation from a mud-dwelling filter feeder into an efficient swimming predator, which typically moves into the sea to begin a predatory/ parasitic life, attaching to a fish by their mouths, secreting an anticoagulant to the host, and feeding on the blood and tissues of the host. In most species this phase lasts about 18 months. Whether lampreys are predators or parasites is a blurred question.
Selected fish 6
These fish reach a maximum overall length of about 40 cm (16 in). The fish present an oval silhouette and are very narrow laterally; it is their body shape, resembling the seed of a pumpkin, which got them their common name. Pumpkinseeds prefer shallow water with some weed cover. They are often found in ponds and small lakes, preferring water temperatures of 4–22 °C (39–72 °F). They are active during the day and rest near the bottoms during the night. These fish reproduce rapidly and are low on the food chain. The pumpkinseed, like other sunfishes, is very popular among anglers, especially the young.
Selected fish 7
Selected fish 8
Sunfish live on a diet that consists mainly of jellyfish. As this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts in order to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate. Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish.
Selected fish 9
Tiktaalik lived approximately 375 million years ago. Paleontologists suggest that it was an intermediate form between fish such as Panderichthys, which lived about 385 million years ago, and early tetrapods such as Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, which lived about 365 million years ago. Its mixture of fish and tetrapod characteristics led one of its discoverers, Neil Shubin, to characterize Tiktaalik as a " fishapod".
Selected fish 10
The dojo loach, or Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, an Asian weather loach species, is a common aquarium and food fish. Like many other loaches, they are slender and eel-like. They can vary in color from yellow to olive green, to a common light brown or gray with lighter undersides. The mouth of the loach is surrounded by three sets of barbels. It uses them to sift through silt or pebbles to find food. It also uses them to dig under gravel and sand to conceal itself out of nervousness or defense unlike the other loaches who use the spines beneath the eyes.
Selected fish 11
Selected fish 12
Puffer fish are the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world, the first being a Golden Poison Frog. The skin and certain internal organs of many tetraodontidae are highly toxic to humans, but nevertheless the meat of some species is considered a delicacy in both Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok). If one is caught while fishing, it is recommended that thick gloves be worn to avoid poisoning and getting bitten when removing the hook.
The tetraodontidae contains at least 121 species of puffers in 19 genera. They are most diverse in the tropics and relatively uncommon in the temperate zone and completely absent from cold waters. They are typically small to medium in size, although a few species can reach lengths of 100 centimetres (39 in).