Ten Weird, Crazy, but Always Interesting Facts About Fish

Fish, which means “Pisces” in Latin are vertebrates that live in water, have gills, have a scaly body and reproduce with eggs. In some species, live births occur, while in others, the offspring are raised in the mouth until they are afloat. Fish are the most important creatures of aquatic life. As of today, the oldest fish fossil is about 500 million years old. Currently, there are 2 types of fish, cartilaginous and bony. We can talk about two very ancient species. It has been proven that there are armoured and spiny shark species that became extinct about 300-400 million years ago.

According to studies, it is known that there are approximately 40,000 fish species. If we briefly touch on the living areas; They can live in a wide range from Antarctica to warm waters, from fresh waters to salty waters, from light-exposed places to untouched places. There are three types of nutrition. Carnivorous, herbivorous, carnivorous-herbivorous. While all but 2 species have teeth for feeding, only sturgeon and bunch-gill species do not have teeth. If you thought those little nuggets of information were interesting check out these ten…

Backwards

This might surprise you but most fish can swim backwards. However, they don’t display their reverse swimming trait unless it’s necessary. In the wild, fish swim backwards to catch prey. Triggerfish, Eels, and Blue Gill Sunfish are some fish that swim backwards very well, while the Shark is one fish that can’t swim backwards.

Lipstick

Most lipstick contains the byproduct of fish scales, called pearl essence or pearlescence — as it turns out, the stuff that makes fish scales flash also makes one’s lips shiny. Most pearl essence comes from commercially fished herring. Synthetic versions are available, but they are not widely used.

Taste

For fish, taste isn’t limited to the tongue. Fish have taste buds not just on their tongues, but on their lips and bodies, too. Taste buds need moisture to work (try eating with a dry mouth), and because fish are surrounded by water all the time, taste buds can survive on the exterior skin of their flanks and fins as well as inside their mouths.

Farting

The herring fish communicate with each other through underwater sounds created through farting, according to a study. The high-pitch buzzing sound helps the fish to communicate at night, without alerting predators and further helping the fish to form protective shoals.

Eyelids

Most fishes don’t have eyelids and that’s because they really don’t need them. Eyelids help moisten eyes, so they don’t dry out. Eyelids also protect the eyes from things in the air, like dirt and dust. Since fishes live in water, dry eyes are not really an issue.

Gender

Many species of fish, like the kobudai, are known as “sequential hermaphrodites”: they can switch sex permanently at a specific point in their lives.

Sharks

While 12 people lose their lives in shark attacks annually, 11,417 sharks are killed in 1 hour.

Infrared

Some forms of fish such as goldfish, salmon, piranha and cichlid can see infrared light. Salmon and some other freshwater fish have an enzyme that switches their visual systems to activate infrared seeing, which helps them to navigate and hunt in murky waters. In goldfish, eyesight is a highly developed sense, and it’s thought to be superior to humans. In fact, goldfish are the only members of the animal kingdom that can see both infrared and ultraviolet light.

Greenland Shark

There is a species known as the Greenland shark that feeds on polar bears. It is known that this species can live for about 200 years.

Pufferfish

Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.

Do you know of any other weird, crazy or interesting facts about fish? If you do why not leave a comment and tell us about it.