365 replies to this topic

[drbill]

I know DrBill! I tried to think of a way to narrow down the playing field without giving away the answer I am looking for.

This creature is not a vertebrate.
HINT: "the male creature releases its sperm"

Hamlets are busy little sex changers, according to one source, taking sex shifting goes to dynamic extremes. Hamlets (genus Hypoplectrus) are simultaneous hermaphrodites. Hamlets hold the sex-shifting record, switching from one set of gonads to the other and back in 30 seconds or less, with an average of 14 spawns in one day. The creatures I am looking for do not switch that quickly. "Throughout their lifetime, these creatures are capable of playing either role."

And on a side note, DrBill is this your article that mentions fish that switch sexes: Dive Dry with Dr. Bill: #137: You Think Your Sex Life is Strange?

If I remember correctly, not all hamlets have the same reproductive patterns and rapid reversability. Some alternate, but I'd have to go back into my research notes to verify that and I'm too damned tired!

Yes, of course, that is non other than moi who published "You Think Your Sex Life is Strange?" My newspaper column almost always focuses on mating or munching (or both).

[Dive_Girl]

OK call me a critter nerd, but this is some good info I am learning!! Thanks DrBill and great article, by the way!

[jholley309]

CREATURE FEATURE 22

Return of the dead.

This sea creature was thought to be extinct for 80 million years. Trouble is, nobody told the fisherman who caught one in the 30's. Although they might not have actually returned from the dead, they do take first place in the pan-species hide and seek contest.

Hmm, would that be the coelocanth, perhaps? They remind me of sharpei puppies: so ugly they're cute.

Cheers!

Jim

[drbill]

Hmm, would that be the coelocanth, perhaps? They remind me of sharpei puppies: so ugly they're cute.

I remember walking through the basement of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge MA and running into a preserved coelocanth in storage on the basement floor. Boy was I surprised.

[drbill]

Thanks DrBill and great article, by the way!

There are 161 more articles archived on my website, so good reading. I'm always happy with the response I get from the public on them (including fishers). It's funny though- I don't know of any of our local dive professionals who read my column!

[Dive_Girl]

I am pretty sure Coelocanth is correct! So I'll post another question. If it isn't correct, Hawk can send us all to his Halloween torture chamber...

CREATURE FEATURE 23

Name this sea creature (aka No spine, but certainly not spineless):

Fish are vertebrates. When you think of vertebrates, you think bones or backbone. Name the sea creatures that don’t have bones but are fish… (I'll bet they don't use those skeleton Halloween hang ups…..)

[TraceMalin]

Name this sea creature (aka No spine, but certainly not spineless):

Fish are vertebrates.  When you think of vertebrates, you think bones or backbone.  Name the sea creatures that don’t have bones but are fish… (I'll bet they don't use those skeleton Halloween hang ups…..)

Oh, I'm betting these are the ones that worry us surfers... um... dude... I felt something brush my foot. Please tell me that was you!

S...h...a...r...k..s?

[Dive_Girl]

yes Sharks!

[drbill]

Actually (if my memory of phylogenetics is still accurate) the sharks are members of the Class Chondrichthyes which, along with the bony fishes in the Class Osteichthyes, are in the Sub-phylum Vertebrata which is in the Phylum Chordata.

Vertebrates do not necessarily require bony skeletons!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... wrong question and wrong answer!

Edited by drbill, 26 October 2005 - 01:08 PM.

[Dive_Girl]

Awwww come on DrBill couldn't we stretch the cartilage a little here? I know critters don't have to have bones to be a vertebrate, but most people "think" bones when they think "vertebrate." Just trying to throw a curve ball, not trying to be inaccurate - many apologies if it came across that way

I had been thinking of bones because of the great Coelacanth question, which made me stumble across reference to the class Osteichthyes (bony fish). My brain hurts....

[drbill]

Awwww come on DrBill couldn't we stretch the cartilage a little here? I know critters don't have to have bones to be a vertebrate, but most people "think" bones when they think "vertebrate." Just trying to throw a curve ball, not trying to be inaccurate - many apologies if it came across that way

No offense, DG. Just wanted to clear things up on that issue. It prevented me from answering the question you posed! The questions are fun to think about and answer... at least when I have the time to peruse SD.com.

[TraceMalin]

Actually (if my memory of phylogenetics is still accurate) the sharks are members of the Class Chondrichthyes which, along with the bony fishes in the Class Osteichthyes, are in the Sub-phylum Vertebrata which is in the Phylum Chordata.

Vertebrates do not necessarily require bony skeletons!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... wrong question and wrong answer!

Cool! Now, if I get attacked by a shark while surfing, both the shark & I will be even for "a case of mistaken identity!"

Trace

[Dive_Girl]

CREATURE FEATURE 24

Name this sea creature (aka now that's what I call shrinkage!):

This sea creature is believed to be the smallest vertebrate in the world. The species live at depths of 15 m to 30 m in coral-reef lagoons in the vicinity of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia and mature females reach only 7-8mm. (see what can happen when you piss off a sea witch! You get shrunk!)

[ScubaHawk]

I think it's the infantfish - that's all of the name I can remember.

[Dive_Girl]

Dang Hawk - good job!! The Stout Infantfish

CREATURE FEATURE 25

Name this sea creature (aka I put spell on you…):

These sea creatures hypnotise their prey by drawing a ring of bubbles in the water then bursting up through the ring, jaws wide open, to scoop up the food. (oooooo I'm going to have to try that on my next dive!)