Self explanatory :)
Great Barracuda - Sphyraena barracuda
October 30, 2011
October 28, 2011
FIshy Friday - Tripod fish!
I'm often asked what my favorite types of fishes to illustrate are. Honestly? The weirder, the better. I love the freaky oddballs - the critters who've evolved to resemble their environment, or resemble nothing else on Earth! This includes Deepsea fishes. Sadly though, I hardly ever get to illustrate Deepsea fishes.
Todays fish? The Tripod fish! This guy is wicked cool.
They perch motionless on soft bottoms in lightless depths of about 3,000 to 15,000 feet. While facing into the current, they splay their pectoral fins in a fan-like position. As prey such as shrimps or other inverts pass by, the Tripod fish detects their presence and uses their pectorals to net the prey. Oddly, they have underdeveloped eyes - most dark-dwelling fishes have large eyes. They are hermaphroditic (possess both male and female sex organs) that develop simultaneously - a cool adaptation that allows the fish to reproduce without a mate! (Kind of hard to find one in the dark... :)
October 26, 2011
Update on "PETA Bites!"
I never thought I'd get a response from PETA in regard to my letter (see below). Surprise! But, altough I'd written "Personal" on the envelope, it would seem that Ms. Newkirk does not answer her own mail. A Membership Correspondant wrote me. (I am not a member.)
Not to my surprise, the letter skirted the issues, and the correspondant spent a page defending the billboard and PETA's tactics, and diverting attention to fishing in general. She completely missed the mark and did not address my primary concerns. But, I'm guessing that was the intention. (She did not persuade me to give up fishing.)
So did my letter make a difference? Probably not. That said, there's nothing recent in the news about the billboard.
Hope they panned it.
Need to write another letter...
Not to my surprise, the letter skirted the issues, and the correspondant spent a page defending the billboard and PETA's tactics, and diverting attention to fishing in general. She completely missed the mark and did not address my primary concerns. But, I'm guessing that was the intention. (She did not persuade me to give up fishing.)
So did my letter make a difference? Probably not. That said, there's nothing recent in the news about the billboard.
Hope they panned it.
Need to write another letter...
October 3, 2011
What's In A Name???
Oh this is TOO funny!!!
Coloquial names are all over the map! Channel bass = Redfish. Striped bass = Rockfish. Little tunny = Albie!
This video is a shining example of the confusion that odd common names can elicit. (What would he think of the Voodoo whiff or the Sarcastic fringehead? :)
This fellow should come to my house -- it is crawling with Daddy longlegs! The resident toads love 'em. YUM!
Coloquial names are all over the map! Channel bass = Redfish. Striped bass = Rockfish. Little tunny = Albie!
This video is a shining example of the confusion that odd common names can elicit. (What would he think of the Voodoo whiff or the Sarcastic fringehead? :)
This fellow should come to my house -- it is crawling with Daddy longlegs! The resident toads love 'em. YUM!
October 1, 2011
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