deep-sea-scholar

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Round 3 - Actinopterygii - Tetraodontiformes

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Order: Tetraodontiformes

Common Name: no common name for the collective order

Families: 10 - Triodontidae (“Threetooth Puffer”), Triacanthodidae (“spikefishes”), Triacanthidae (“triplespines”), Aracanidae (“deep sea boxfishes”), Ostraciidae (“boxfishes”, “cofferfishes”, “cowfishes”, and “trunkfishes”), Balistidae (“triggerfishes”), Monacanthidae (“filefishes”), Molidae (“ocean sunfishes”), Tetraodontidae (“pufferfishes”), and Diodontidae (“porcupinefishes”)

Anatomy: anatomy varies from family to family, but all are radical departures from the streamlined appearance of most fish; all species are fortified with scales modified into strong plates or spines, or with tough, leathery skin; bones of the jaw are modified and fused into a sort of "beak", and visible sutures divide the beaks into "teeth”

Diet: zooplankton, crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms, sponges, jellyfish, tunicates, worms, smaller fish, algae

Habitat: marine habitats worldwide, some freshwater species

Evolved in: Late Cretaceous

Propaganda under the cut:

Rather than “puffing up” like the pufferfish of the family Tetraodontidae, the Threetooth Puffer (Triodon macropterus) employs a large belly flap which is able to fully retract or extend away from its body, making it appear larger than it is. The extended flap also exposes an eye spot, which may further help to startle predators.

Species of the families Triodontidae, Tetraodontidae, and Diodontidae contain a potent Tetrodotoxin in their internal organs and flesh, making them poisonous to predators. Some species are among the most poisonous vertebrates in the world. While the poison won’t save the individual, it helps to weed out predators who would try to eat puffers and porcupinefish. Unfortunately, the meat of some species is still considered a delicacy in Japan, Korea, and China, where specially trained chefs carefully remove the toxic organs. Still, 2-6 people a year die from improperly prepared pufferfish. (Some species lack the toxin entirely, and can be eaten safely.)

Boxfishes (family Ostraciidae) can secrete toxins through their skin when stressed, rather than waiting til they get eaten to defend against potential predators. One of these toxins is pahutoxin, a water-soluble, crystalline chemical toxin which quickly dissolves in the environment and will negatively affect any fish in the surrounding area.

On top of having toxins and horns for defense, Honeycomb Cowfish (Acanthostracion polygonius) can also change color in order to protect themselves from predation. Once camouflaged, the fish can remain stationary for long periods of time.

Longhorn Cowfish (Lactoria cornuta) are an important part of the food chain in coral reefs, being predators of the many invertebrates that feed on coral and can destroy reefs if left unchecked.

As its name would suggest, the Redtoothed Triggerfish’s (Odonus niger) needle-sharp teeth are bright red. Despite the menacing appearance, they are one of the more peaceful members of the triggerfish family.

The Titan Triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) and the Lagoon Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) (image 3) have a reputation for being highly aggressive and territorial, not just to other fish, but also to human divers. Usually, these aggressive triggerfish are females guarding their nests. The larger Titan Triggerfish can be especially dangerous, as their sharp teeth can inflict painful bites. A defensive triggerfish will often give a threat posture first, holding her first dorsal spine erect. She may also roll onto her side to get a better look at the intruder before attempting to escort them out of her territory.

Titan Triggerfish are one of the few species which can hunt and eat Crown-of-thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci), thanks to their large, sharp teeth.

The Reef Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus rectangulus) is the state fish of Hawaii, where it is called the Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa and is connected to the Hawaiian pig god Kamapua’a. The name Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa is ingrained in my brain thanks to a song that used to play on HBO Kids when I was a kid, that I swear exists, but I can’t find it anywhere. This was before YouTube existed, and all the ones on YouTube now are not like the song I remember. It ended like “Humuhumu-nukunuku-āpua-ʻa! The je-wel of the sea! That’s me!” and was dubbed over real footage of the fish swimming around on the reef. I swear it was real. It has to be somewhere. Someone had to have recorded it on something. Anyway…

Many species of filefish (family Monacanthidae) can change color rapidly to match their surroundings, or to startle predators. They are not strong swimmers, so often spend their days floating head-down in seagrass, camouflaged among the floating masses.

The Giant Sunfish (Mola alexandrini) (image 2) is the heaviest living Actinopterygiian in the world, with the largest known individual having weighed in at 2,744 kg (6,049 lb).

Molas can sometimes be found basking on their sides near the surface of the sea, which is thought to be used to re-heat themselves after diving down into cold water for prey, recharge their oxygen stores, and attract gulls to free themselves of parasites. This sunning behavior is what gave them their common name: sunfish!

Molas are harmless to people, but can be very curious and will often approach divers.

In contrast to its much larger relatives in the family Molidae, who are very slow-moving and mostly feed upon jellyfish, salps, and small fish and crustaceans, the Slender Sunfish (Ranzania laevis) is known to mainly feed upon squid, particularly of the family Ommastrephidae, which are known for being very fast-moving, displaying evidence that the Slender Sunfish itself is a faster-moving and agile predator of squid, unusual for its family (and order!)

White-spotted Pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus) males are known for creating elaborate circular patterns in the sand as part of their mating ritual, measuring 2 m (6.6 ft) in diameter. Such artistic nest designs were noticed since 1995, but their creation remained a mystery until the species' discovery. The nests are created to attract mates through the nest's impressive design and ability to gather fine sand particles, both which influence a female's mate choice. Males never reuse a nest. The species was described by David Attenborough as "the greatest artist of the animal kingdom".

Pufferfish and Porcupinefish are perhaps best known for their secondary defense mechanism (their first being speed bursts). The defense is to fill their extremely elastic stomach with water (or air if outside the water) until it is much larger and almost spherical in shape, making the fish look bigger, spikier, and also harder for a predator to swallow. A hungry predator may suddenly find itself facing an unpalatable, pointy ball rather than a slow, easy meal. Predators that do not heed this warning may die from choking, and predators that do manage to swallow the puffer may then find their stomachs full of poison (though a puffer's neurotoxin is not necessarily as toxic to some other animals as it is to humans). It can take over 5 hours for a pufferfish or porcupinefish to “de-puff”, and the process is exhausting, leaving the fish vulnerable. It is often an extremely last resort where the fish feels it has no other option (which is why you should never force a pufferfish or porcupinefish to puff up, and never trust videos of divers swimming with puffed up pufferfish… they likely harassed that poor animal close to death!)

[deep-sea-scholar]

Visa's phone infrastructure is getting unusably bad... guess I have no choice but to air my verbose complaints on index cards mailed individually to 900 Metro Center Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404

[deep-sea-scholar]

[deep-sea-scholar]

Saw the new Superman and immediately latched on to Mr. Terrific. The part of me that became obsessed with Kopaka for being smart, cool, and so incredibly done with everyone else around him has never died

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every time Pearl wears human clothes she serves up really great dyke looks. look at this gay waitress. btw don't comment on my nearly full hard drive notification

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trans women r literally so cool theu get tits AND a prostate?? i thought only markilpler could do that

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yeah.

[deep-sea-scholar]

I love how Avatar perfectly balances "the kids are going to save the world!" with "which is pretty fucked up, actually."

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Just remembering you guys that Spongebob’s grandma have the same tastes as Squidward and they get along very well. This explains why Spongebob is so fascinated by his artistic talents.

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Susie's idea

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Slug Jax

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this guy posted this video called “unethical money making hacks” and was like “i’m selling bullshit art!” and he was buying prints from kmart and covering them in joint compound and making interesting shapes in the joint compound and then selling it as “textured wall art” like sorry bro that’s just regular art you made art i know it feels like bullshit but you’re actually just making art rn

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[deep-sea-scholar]

Please watch Fabiniku

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[deep-sea-scholar]

it does not matter if you think it’s “badly prioritized,” most people are going to see the bigotry that they face as their number one priority. they will not throw in with people who mock and demean and belittle their concerns, who say they are jumping at shadows, and why should they?