Incredible Species Newsletter - Fish
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Is That a Sea Serpent?
Have you ever heard the expression "slippery as an eel"? Eels are slippery: their bodies are covered with slimy mucus.
A Long Distance Swimmer!
After laying millions of eggs, the female dies. When the young eels hatch they drift northward with the current. Eventually they start swimming northward. They keep swimming all the way up the east coast of North America to mature in freshwater. The trip can take years. Strange but TrueAmerican eels don't become definitely male or female until they're 20 to 25 cm. (8 – 10 in) long. Their gender is in part determined by conditions such as crowding and food abundance. Almost all of the eels in the St. Lawrence system are female.
Research shows that young eels have trouble getting past hydro electric dams as they swim up the St. Lawrence River towards their freshwater habitat. |
Another problem facing eels is that as they migrate downriver towards the Sargasso Sea, about 40% of the female adults are sucked into the turbines of power stations. To prevent eels getting caught in the turbines, Ontario Power Generation is experimenting with catching and transporting them downriver in trucks past all the dams.
The King of Fish
This fish is a very unusual, primitive looking fish. It is torpedo shaped and instead of scales it has bony plates that look like armour. Its skeleton is made of cartilage instead of bones. Hanging under its snout are four barbels which are whisker-like projections that it uses to feel the lake bottom where it likes to hunt for small fish, crayfish, and molluscs.
In addition to being considered the King of Fish the sturgeon is considered a delicacy in fine restaurants. Its eggs are served as caviar and smoked sturgeon is considered a gourmet treat. Unfortunately, the eggs (roe) can't be harvested without killing the fish. Like the American eel, the migration of sturgeons is upset by power dams. Power dams have also destroyed many rapids - the eel's favourite spawning grounds.
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