Aquatic Life Appreciation Thread 🐳 🐠 🐙

coconyt crab

I hope they have an extra sweet flavor from all those coconuts they eat. :yum:

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I found some cool amphibians recently: various frog species found in the Tropics (frog= 蛙 orかえる). :frog: Beautiful and deadly (some of them). ^^;

More info here: https://www.britannica.com/list/7-awesome-frog-species-of-the-tropics

Red eyed tree frog

Blue poison dart frog

Mimic poison frog

Golden poison frog モウドクフキヤガエル

Tomato frog

Amazon milk frog 十字目毒雨蛙 or じゅうじめどくあまがえる

Hyalinobatrachium dianae aka Kermit!!! :green_heart: :frog: :green_heart: It’s a type of glass frog and was found in 2015.

The frog was discovered in the largely unexplored Caribbean side of the Talamanca mountains, which lie on the border between Costa Rica and Panama.

Source: New Frog Species Looks Like Kermit

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Here is the Leopard Sea Cucumber (海鼠 I don’t know if there is a Japanese name for the Leopard part), one of over 1200 Sea Cucumber species. What fascinated me was its relationship with the Pearlfish. One of the weird and eyebrow raising stories from nature :eyes:

The white tendrils are a defense mechanism - actually expels its toxic & sticky gut, which is eventually regenerated, out through its anus .

The Pearlfish makes its home inside the cucumber, entrance via the ‘backdoor’.
Screen Shot 2020-08-29 at 8.08.35 pm

World’s Weirdest Events: Episode 5 - BBC Two

Hilarious but very informative blog:

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OMG! :joy: What is this! You win the Internet today! :clap::clap::clap: :tada:

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Bahahaha, the Interwebs are such a wealth of wonderful bizarre-ness. I cannot for the life of me remember what I was looking for when I bookmarked this - it was the ejection of innards on the pictures that were the drawcard and THEN the Pearlfish :eyes: :eyes: :scream:
Nature did hentai before hentai did!!!

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Here’s some more beautiful fishies of the sea! ^>^

Mandarin fish ケツギョ these are so lovely :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Cardinal fish 天竺鯛 or てんじくだい
cardinal fish

Pajama cardinal fish

Achilles surgeonfish アカツキハギ
achilles surgeonfish

Regal Angelfish

Honeycomb grouper

Blue ribbon eel 鼻髭鱓 or はなひげうつぼ I really like this guy! ^>^
blue ribbon eel

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Time for some really BIG FISH! Not as cute, but I’d love to meet one of these diving one day! ^>^

Ocean Sunfish or Mola Mola 翻車魚 or まんぼう is the heaviest bony fish in the world
sunfish

Giant Mola Mola (!) with divers for size-comparison
mola mola

This Sunfish has a shoal of pilotfish (the striped ones) trailing it for food and protection.
giant-mola-mola-malta

Whaleshark 甚兵衛鮫 or じんべえざめ with more Pilotfish パイロットフィッシュ
whale-shark-rhincodon-typus-accompanied-pilot-15263909

Humphead wrasse or Napoleonfish 眼鏡黐之魚 or めがねもちのうお
humphead wrasse

*Asian Sheepshead wrasse 瘤鯛 or こぶだい, males in territorial display

Malabar grouper 灸羽田 or やいとはた
EpinephelusMalabaricus10362a malabar Grouper

Beautiful Golden Trevally コガネシマアジ

Mahi-Mahi 鱰 or しいら or マヒマヒ is also gorgeous! :heart:

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Some more coastal foraging with the Fish Locker. ^>^ This time at night! :first_quarter_moon_with_face: :night_with_stars: John brings a UV-lamp to show the bioluminescence of anemone. He also talks about safety precautions when foraging at night.

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Interesting video that I would never think to watch myself!

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While some people look a cat pics on Instagram when taking a break, I end up looking at sea creatures! Today I looked at squid (烏賊 or いか). :squid: So here are some beautifully squiddy pics! ^>^

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サバ or mackerel is apparently the delicious mystery fish I’ve been eating in sushi. The grocery store I frequent does a really good job of removing the bones and scales/skin, so I never realized it was mackerel. I highly recommend it, especially the non fermented kind. The fermented kind is exceptionally fishy in taste.

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(Having scrolled through all the beautiful pictures here, may I humbly suggest that the thread’s title be adjusted to “Aquatic” from “Marine” - marine refers overwhelmingly to salt-water bodies and not all the lovely creatures posted would survive in salt-water) :slightly_smiling_face: :whale: :whale2: :dolphin: :fish: :tropical_fish: :blowfish: :shark: :octopus: :frog:

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Thank you…I didn’t remember that word I guess, but Aquatic is indeed the word I was looking for! ^>^

@CDR-Strawberry I love smoked mackerel. You can usually find it in stores here and then I eat it on flatbread with a simple dressing and salad! :yum:

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I’ve never had smoked mackerel and doesn’t seem to be a thing in my part of the country. How does it compare to smoked salmon??

It’s very different. When I say smoked mackerel, that means hot smoked, not cold smoked like salmon is often done (though salmon is also delicious when hot smoked and also readily available in supermarkets here that way).

So, the smokiness of mackerel comes through very clearly. Some might find it a tad too much, but I like it. Mackerel is great in a salad, like a meal on its own. Or, like I said, in a sandwich! :yum:

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ちりめんじゃこ・じゃこ・They are a type of tiny sardine. They’re both tasty and cute. You can find them seasonally in the summer on sushi.

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Ah, I hadn’t realized there were two ways to smoke salmon. I think I overall prefer fish cold, so it’s probably not my cup of tea. If I get the chance though, I’ll try it. ((Hold me to that if I end up in your corner of the world.))

Ah. I see the confusion here. How to explain it better.

“Hot smoked” refers to the way of cooking the fish. But the fish is then served cold. When you cold smoke something, you get this unique texture of the fish, making it possible to get those thin slices. But, when you do hot smoking, the fish gets a more normal cooked texture, flaky fish/falling apart kind of way.

And with hot smoking it’s usual to use various flavorings in addition, so the fish gets a lovely flavor besides the smokiness (herbs, spices, etc). I really recommend it! ^>^

Hot smoked salmon

Cold smoked salmon
cold-smoked-salmon-500x500

Hot smoked mackerel

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Sorry, I do understand the difference, but I didn’t think saying I prefer my fish raw/uncooked would have made sense in the case of smoking. I don’t like hot smoked salmon in general. I find the texture inferior to cold smoked, so I think I would feel similarly about hot smoked mackerel.

BTW: I’m very curious about these little guys! I so wanna give them a try! :yum:

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