Did You Know? Discus Fish

Did you know the Discus Fish have small bright red eyes?

Did you know that the Discus are very nice creatures but can become aggressive when defending their young or territory?

Did you know that the nine vertical strips on the Discus is how they communicate with other Discus?

Did you know that when Discus find their spouse they remain together for life?

The Flowerhorn Fish

Say there, what's that on your head? This is the Flowerhorn fish, which gets its name from its distinctive, and colorful, head bump.

The Flowerhorn is a fish hybrid that is not found in nature. These man-made creatures were developed in Malaysia in 1993 and are sold for aquariums. When cared for correctly, the Flowerhorn can live for 10 to 12 years.

The Northern Stargazer - Romantic Name, Terrifying Fish

As pretty as the name Northern Stargazer sounds, this is not a pretty animal. In fact, this fish looks downright scary! With it's human-like eyes and mouth, the Stargazer is a bit disconcerting to look at. Not to mention the sharp teeth that are just itching to bite prey.

The Stargazer catches its prey by burrowing in the sand. It's eyes are located on the top of its head, allowing for it to see as smaller fish swim by (and where the name Stargazer stems from). When a tasty-looking fish passes by, the Stargazer creates a vacuum with its large mouth, sucking in its prey.

Stargazers can be found primarily along the eastern coast of the United States, on beaches from North Carolina to New York.

Top Blog Posts Of 2012

The end of December just isn't complete without a year-end roundup, right? Today we've put together a list of our most popular blog posts from 2012. Did yours make the list?

• How Elephants Communicate
• Tigers Swimming (photo gallery)
• Scary Pictures Of Cute Animals

• The Barreleye Spook Fish
• Black Cats - Unlucky Or Misjudged?
• The "Psychedelic" Mandarin Fish
• Duck-Billed Platypus - A Venomous Creature

• The Fennec What?
• Animal Mothers & Their Babies
• The Nudibranch - A Colorful Ocean Creature 

Monsters Of The Deep

There's more to fear in the water besides Jaws... a lot more. And although it's true that you're never going to encounter many of these terrifying underwater creatures - who live at depths of up to 16,000 feet - just the thought that they exist is enough to give us nightmares.

Fangtooth Fish

The larger fangs on the lower jaw of the fangtooth fish are so long that the species has actually evolved a pair of opposing sockets on both sides of the brain for the fangs to slip into when the mouth is closed. Despite that gruesome physical feature, the fangtooth fish are relatively small (around 7 inches) and are said to be harmless to humans.

Striated Dogfish (or Anglerfish)

While some members of this species look like furry cousins of Nemo, this one looks like something strait out of the movie "Critters". Another creepy trait: these fish don't swim but "walk" using their pectoral fins.

Frill Shark

Could this be the animal that inspired sea monster tales? The frill shark has a long, eel-like which it can bend like a snake. Its mouth houses 25 rows of teeth (approximately 300 total).

Fangtooth Moray Eel

We're happy to know that the fangtooth moray eels typically likes to hide in crevices rather than swim out in the open, making the chances of running into one of these toothy creatures - which can get up to 10 feet long  - highly unlikely.

Anaconda

Perhaps this isn't technically a creature of the deep, since they prefer shallow, stagnant bodies of water. But we're including it because... well look at this picture! We certainly wouldn't want to meet these giant snakes underwater.

The Kansas City Sea Life Aquarium

Last week, we finally had the opportunity to visit one of Kansas City’s newest attractions, the Sea Life Aquaruim. And let us tell you, we were impressed (and are already planning for our next trip there)!

One thing that jumped out at us was the easy way that the aquarium blended learning with entertainment. There were “Fin Facts” splashed against many of the walls, teaching visitors things like that the lion fish has a venomous spine on its dorsal fin. There were other displays that showed, rather than told, the facts, like the one with life-sized crab images on it. The images went from the pea crab (aptly named since it is the size of a pea) to the gigantic (and somewhat horrific) Japanese spider crab that grow up to 13 feet in diameter!

The sea life aquarium also does a great job of mixing up the displays. It’s not just a bunch of fish behind glass. There’s that, but there’s also a touch pond where visitors are welcomed to touch star fish, hermit crabs and spiny urchins. There are displays that have special designs so visitors can actually stick their heads inside "bubbles" inside the aquarium.


One of the star fish in the touch pond.

Overall, we were VERY impressed, captivated, entertained and educated by the Sea Life Aquarium and we’re very glad we splurged on the season pass*! This way we can go back all year long to bring our readers (and Facebook fans and Pinterest followers) more great pictures all year long!

*If you live in Kansas City and are considering a trip to the aquarium, definitely check into the annual pass. Price for an individual ticket for the day was about $26, and the price for an individual year pass was $60 (both including tax). If you want to go more than once (and you will) or have a bigger family, it makes sense to get the annual pass.

The "Psychadelic" Mandarin Fish

The Mandarin fish is easily one of the prettiest fish in the sea, which explains why it is one of the most popular fish sold for reef aquarium tanks. Its scale-less body features a beautiful display of blue, green, orange and yellow designs and squiggles.

Although the Mandarin fish is highly sought after for fish tanks, their finicky eating habits make it hard for them to survive in a closed environment. According to this website, they feed only on "amphipods and copepods, which are found in sufficient numbers only in larger and well established reef tank." Many Mandarin fish starve in pet shops or new tanks.

In the wild, Mandarin fish is native to the Pacific Ocean area, from the Philippines to west of Australia. The travel in groups or pairs and live in lagoons and the sandy bottoms along coral reefs.

River Monsters

Every fisherman has a Big Fish story. Whether it’s the largest one he ever caught or the one that put up the most fight, there’s usually a good chance that the fish in question wasn’t as big or bad as made out to be.

In the case of Jeremy Wade, however, his Big Fish stories are true. And there’s proof. New episodes of his series, River Monsters, started last night on Animal Planet. Wade has caught everything from Vampire Piranhas to a Goliath grouper (as in 350 pounds) to bull sharks, truly monstrous creatures that will make you think twice about going out into the water.

Jason Wade and a monster tigerfish. (Photo via.)

Watch River Monsters on Sundays at 10 p.m. EST, or check out clips on the Animal Planet website. And check out a few of our favorite River Monsters, recently captured in The Jungle Store warehouse ;-)

 Black Tipped Shark

 Jolt The Eel

Largemouth Bass

Brown Hammerhead Shark

Moray Eel

Find these and other aquatic creatures at TheJungleStore.com!

Clownfish and Sea Anemones - A Working Relationship

Clownfish are a prized addition to most any collector’s aquarium, as their bright colors are quite beautiful. However, in the wilds of the open ocean these small fish have little in the way of natural defenses, and there are plenty of hungry predators that would love to have them for lunch. What’s a clownfish to do? Find a much bigger best friend!

Clownfish share a symbiotic mutual relationship with sea anemones, predatory animals closely related to corals and jellyfish. The sea anemone inhabits coral reefs and uses its stinging tentacles to paralyze prey and enemy alike. Using fast-acting toxins for both offense and defense makes the anemone seem rather a self-sufficient creature, yet it harbors, even welcomes, the small tropical clownfish to take up residence among its tentacles.

The clownfish not only gets a wonderful living defense system from the anemone, but also an occasional meal from the scraps of fish the anemone fails to ingest. This relationship works both ways as the anemone will snack on any scraps the clownfish drops as well. The action of the clownfish also stirs up fresh water currents and moves them over the sedentary anemone.

So, how does the anemone know not to sting? There are a few different theories. One is that the anemone doesn't know, but that the mucus coating of the clownfish protects it from the anemone's toxins. This is possible because clownfish that have had this mucus wiped off of them have been stung and killed by their previous hosts. Another theory states that the chemical content of the mucus coating prevents the anemone from recognizing the clownfish as a food source, and therefore the anemone fails to react to the little fish's presence.

Jumping Baby Trout

You would have to be quite a photographer, with impeccable timing and have just the right equipment to capture an image of a jumping trout like this.

And while wildlife photographer Kim Taylor is indeed talented, he didn’t capture these images in the wild. Instead, these stunning pictures were taken in a tank at Taylor’s own studio. He trained the 3-4 inch long trout to leap from the water by dangling bait above them, and then used a high-speed camera to capture the results. The images were then combined with the backdrop of a local stream to illustrate a scene that happens often, but is rarely seen.

Story and photos via The Daily Mail.

The Unique Vaquita

The vaquita holds the distinction of being both the smallest and rarest marine mammal in the world. Also referred to as the desert porpoise or gulf porpoise, the vaquita (Spanish for “little cow”) lives only in the northern half of the Gulf of California, the small wedge of ocean between mainland Mexico and Baja, California.

Vaquitas are less than five feet long and weigh about 100lbs as adults. They are smaller but similar in appearance to the better known harbor porpoise, with their most distinctive feature being the dark circles around their eyes and dark coloration around their mouths. They live in much shallower and warmer water than other porpoises and appear to swim and feed leisurely on a variety of small fish and squid.

Illustration: William Shepard

Vaquitas are critically endangered. From 1997 to 2008 the vaquita population dropped from an estimated 500 animals to fewer than 200. Though they have no natural enemies in their isolated habitat and have never been actively hunted, vaquitas are extremely prone to becoming entangled in gillnets used for commercial fishing. Conservationists and government agencies from Mexico, the United States and Canada are currently working together to establish vaquita sanctuaries and limit commercial fishing to save this unique animal from extinction.

Aquatic Cleaning Stations

While there may indeed be a week-long celebration of sharks on a certain network, today I thought I would present you guys with some of the unsung heroes of the marine world, the cleaner fish.

Like any animal, a fish can develop skin problems, become afflicted with parasites and get generally dirty. Without the ability to take care of any of these problems themselves, some fish have developed a mutually beneficial relationship with one another.

Certain species of fish are known as cleaner fish. They provide a service to other fish (even sharks) by removing parasites and dead skin from their bodies and food particles from their mouths. It’s mutually beneficial because the cleaner fish feeds on what it removes while the client fish reaps the health benefits.


A pair of cleaner wrasses go to work on a client

The best known cleaner fish is called the cleaner wrasse. These are small fish identifiable by their horizontal stripes. They congregate at “cleaning stations” near the sea floor in the Indian and Pacific oceans. When approached by client fish at these stations, the cleaner wrasses will go to work on whatever part of the client that needs cleaned, even swimming into their gills and mouths if necessary. Although the client fish are easily capable of eating the tiny wrasses, they recognize the service they provide and do not prey upon them.

Other marine animals that provide a similar service are several types of gobies and cleaner shrimp.

How Animals Keep Their Cool

Now that summer’s here, a lot of us probably plan on spending our free time at the pool. When it’s hot outside, nothing’s better than jumping into some nice, cool water to relax. But, when a/c or an ice-cold dip isn’t an option, our bodies still find a way to keep us cool; we sweat. Animals in the wild don’t have the option to crank up the air conditioner when they get too hot, so they’ve developed their own ways to cool down.

Photo: CoolFox

Now, we all know that dogs will pant when they get hot, as their tongues are very effective at releasing heat from their bodies, but did you know they also sweat from their feet? Dogs don’t have a lot of sweat glands like we do, but if overheated they can sweat from between their toes. Other mammals such as squirrels sweat in this same way. Cows can sweat from their muzzles, and rabbits sweat from their lips, though neither nearly as much as humans. Birds have no sweat glands at all, so they will flare their feathers and open their mouths in hot weather to increase their surface area and evaporate water from the surface of their bodies.


Photo: Rene Modery

 Have you ever heard the phrase “sweating like a pig”? Well, that’s not really possible, because pigs don’t sweat at all. To regulate their body temperatures, pigs have to roll in mud or water, which draws the heat from their bodies. They look like a mess, but they’re just trying to stay cool!


Photo: Andrew Smith

Cold-blooded animals such as reptiles, amphibians, and fish have body temperatures that are the same as the air or water around them, and do not sweat. Land-going reptiles that are too hot will do their best to find shade or burrow into cool soil. If shade is not available, some have the ability to lighten their skin color, making it more reflective. Fish often seasonally migrate to deeper, cooler waters to regulate their temperatures.

Photo: Phillip Halling

Of course, we’re not the only ones who enjoy a nice swim in hot weather. Have a safe and happy summer!


Photo: Wen-Yan King



Find Love and Friendship in the Coy Fish

Coy fish are widely cultivated in China and Japan. Their name comes from the word ‘Koi’, which means ‘carp’ in Japanese. They are found in several colors, including white, black, red, blue and yellow. Their price range depends on their rarity and their particular color pattern, making them sometimes worth thousands of dollars. Both the colorful and dull grey varieties of Coy fish represent love and friendship in Japan.

Prized Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the world's largest, fastest and most colorful fish. It has a torpedo-shaped body built for speed. Humans have been eating this fish for hundreds of years, but in the 1970s, demand for them went up. Since then, they have been a prize among sport fishers. In fact, in January 2001, a 444-pound bluefin tuna sold in Japan for $173,600 (a world record).

Anglerfish Glow In the Dark

The deep sea anglerfish lives at the very bottom of the sea. Although it’s not the most attractive fish, it has a very unique feature. The female anglerfish has a piece of dorsal spine, tipped with glowing flesh, that comes out of its mouth. This luminous rod attracts prey close enough for the anglerfish to catch it. Because the anglerfish’s mouth is so big and its body is pliable, it can swallow prey up to twice its size.

Bonus Fact: The anglerfish’s light glows because of millions of bioluminescent bacteria.

The Last Chinese Paddlefish

The last Chinese paddlefish spotted in the wild was in 2003, which means that it may already be extinct. Chinese paddlefish are the world’s largest freshwater fish, reaching lengths of 23 feet. They are said to have been a popular meal for Chinese emperors. However, the construction of a dam in the Yangtze River in the 1980s dramatically changed the habitat and well-being of this species. In fact, even if there are some still alive, scientists fear that their may not be enough of them to properly reproduce themselves.

The above photo is a picture of a preserved Chinese paddlefish from NationalGeographic.com

The Coelacanth Lives On

The coelacanth was discovered in 1938, after many scientists believed it went extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Because of its prehistoric features, scientists believe that it represents an earlier step in evolution before fish turned into four-legged creatures or amphibians. Its unique features, such as its paired lobe fins that extend from its body like legs and its hinged joint in the skull that widens the coelacanth’s mouth, both make it a rare “living fossil”. Although there are only about 1,000 of them in the world, these fish can live up to 60 years and often grow to be about six feet long. 

Bonus Fact: The coelacanth’s brain fills only 1.5 percent of its cranial cavity. The rest is filled with fat.

Dancing with the Clownfish

You may recognize the clown anemonefish or clownfish because of its bright orange color and three white stripes. Or you might recognize it from the movie Finding Nemo. This clownfish is named after the sea anemones in which it inhabits. A layer of mucus surrounding the fish’s skin protects them from the anemones’ poisonous sting. To become comfortable amongst the anemones, the clownfish performs a ritualistic dance with an anemone before deciding to live there. In exchange for protection and food scraps, the clownfish scares off intruders and removes unwanted parasites.

Bonus Fact: All clownfish are born male. They can change sexes; however, they only do when they want to become the dominant female of the group because the change is irreversible.

Giant Fish Takes Over Rivers

The arapaima is the largest fresh water fish in the world, reaching up to 9 feet and weighing up to 440 pounds. This fish is mainly found in rain forest rivers in South America. While it does stay under water for 20 minutes at a time, the arapaima can often be seen swimming along the surface. This also makes it a prime target for hunters with harpoons.

Bonus Fact: The arapaima has a “bony” tongue.