For shark week. The most unusual shark in the world, drumroll..........

Mollisquama parini.

This shark belongs to the Dalatiidae family a.k.a. sleeper sharks.  Thirty-six years ago off the coast of Peru, the first of this species (a female) was discovered and at that point, the only one ever seen!

This first pocket shark is held in a museum in Russia.

Another of these rare species (a relatively young male) accidentally turned up in 2010 in a batch of fish that was collected off the shore of Louisiana while the study of what sperm whales eat was underway.

This little guy was literally discovered by accident in a bag of fish in a freezer.  These sharks are so unique not much is known about them.

Interesting facts about pocket sharks.
~The most interesting fact is probably that there have only ever been two discovered but scientist believe there are more out there.
~No one has ever seen a pocket shark alive and only a handful of people have seen the two that have been discovered.
~There are unusual photophore agglomerations (light-emitting organs) on their bellies that are not seen on the majority of sharks.
~This type of shark has a pocket gland with a large slit external opening which is located above the pectoral fin.  No one is certain what the purpose of these mysterious pockets are but the working hypothesis is that the pockets hold glowing fluid or pheromones which are secreted by the pocket sharks.  The fluid could be used to attract prey or mates and/or elude predators.
~The pockets are said to measure about 4% of the shark's entire body.
~It is believed that pocket sharks are bottom-dwellers.
~The closest relative to the pocket sharks are cookie-cutter sharks and the kitefin sharks.

As I said not much is known about these fascinating little creatures.  What is known is that they are simply amazing and adorable!

Read more here and here.

Happy shark week!

Shark week is here again, and I love it!

I just cannot help it, I.love.sharks.  I have always been fascinated by these misunderstood creatures who appear to extract fear and panic in the majority of the world's population.

So in honor of Shark Week 2016, lets take a look at the Wobbegong, the common name for the 12 species of carpet sharks in the Orectolobidae family. Orectolobidae is Greek for stretched-out lobe.

You can read my other shark posts here and here including shark dissection.

I decided to start out with the Wobbegong mostly because the name sounds like a Dr. Seuss book character.  The name actually was given to the species by Australian Aborigines.  In Australian the word Wobbegong translates into shaggy bearded (wobbies).

Factoids:
~There are 12 species of Wobbegongs, a.k.a. Carpet Sharks.
~Documentation dates this species of shark as far back as 100 years.
~The live in coral reefs, seagrass, and sandy bottoms of the ocean usually in the West Pacific Ocean (shallow waters around Indonesia and Australia for 11 of the Wobbegong species and you can find the Japanese Wobbegong (Orectolobus japonicus), obviously, around Japan.
~Their size ranges between 2 feet and 6 feet long.  The record for largest Wobbegong is 10 feet with the smallest being 2.5 feet.
~They graze on octopus, crab, lobster, and fish.
~Wobbegongs easily blend in to their environment making meal time very easy for them which is a good thing because they are said to be extremely lazy.  They have brownish or greenish skin, they are highly patterned, and they lay flat on the ocean's floor.  Perfectly camouflaged.
~Wobbegongs give birth to pups (Ovoviviparous).  Each litter consists of 20 pups.  Total gestation period is between 10 months and 11 months.  They are around 8 inches long at birth.  The current record for most live births by a Wobbegong is 53 pups.  After they are born, they are on their own.  They stick together until they learn to find food on their own.
~Their lifespan is not exactly known.
~The status is near threatened due to habitat destruction.
~They are nocturnal.  It is believed they have poor eyesight.
~Like the Great White, Wobbegongs breath by taking water in their mouths and pumping it through their gills.  They have five gill slits.
~Rumor has it that Wobbegongs make good pets.  Pet Wobbegongs only need to be fed twice a week but it has to be a live fish on a stick.
~Wobbegongs are caught for their meat, and their beautiful skin is used to make leather. BOO!

 Eucrossorhinus dasypogonTasselled wobbegong shark

Northern Wobbegong

Spotted Wobbegong Shark

Japanese Wobbegong

As you can see, the Wobbegong is a pretty unique and special fish.  Find out more from the links below. 
Happy Shark Week.............

Shark Sider
Shark Savers
Wildscreen Arkive 

Apologia Biology Mod 10; Lesson on symbiosis.......

Symbiosis:  The word symbiosis comes from two Greek words; sym=together and bios-life.  Symbiosis is a biological relationship in which two species live close to each other and have interactions that will usually benefit both organisms but not always.

The four types of symbiosis include commensalism, parasitism, mutualism, and endosymbiosis/ectosymbiosis.

~Commensalism (one-sided) is a type of relationship in which one of the organisms benefits from the symbiosis while the other organism does not necessarily benefit but is not harmed from the relationship either.

~Parasitism is when one organism benefits from the relationship at the expense of the other-i.e. an organism might live inside the body of the other organism or on its surface.  This type of symbiosis can result in death for the host.

~Mutualism is symbiosis at its finest!  In this relationship, both organisms benefit and many will form long-lasting relationships.

Endosymbiosis is when one organism lives inside another and ectosymbiosis with when one organism lives on the surface of the other.

Apologia biology had more than a few interesting examples of symbiosis but this one by far was the most interesting to me.

The Oriental Sweetlips and the Blue-streaked cleaner wrasse are both fish.  One much larger than the other.  Many fish, like the Oriental Sweetlips have teeth.  Just like with humans, fish need to have their teeth cleaned.  That makes sense but how does that happen?  So it seems that the Blue-streaked cleaner wrasse will take care of that for the Oriental Sweetlips in return for a little protection.

After eating small fish all day, the Oriental Sweetlips will look around for a specific spot on the coral reef (cleaning station).  Then they just swim over to it, open their mouth, and Blue-streaked cleaner wrasse with willingly swim right into the Oriental Sweetlips' mouth and proceed to eat away all of the plaque right off their teeth.  So the Oriental Sweetlips get their teeth cleaned and provide protection for the Blue-streaked cleaner wrasse who benefits from the plaque (which is their food source).  Mutualism.........so nice!

A fun day out!

Today we made a trip (5 minutes away) to a local Christmas tree farm/pumpkin patch.  They had many beautiful things there including pumpkins, cows, goats, apples, jellies, ciders, homemade breads, fish, ponds, sunflowers, and all different types of other flowers and trees.  They also have a hay ride.  Here are a few pictures in random order.

PUMPKINS!

Carved pumpkins.

More pumpkins!

Trees, trees, and more trees.

Trees and flowers obviously.

Pretty!

Pretty!

Pretty!

Lots of sunflowers.

Little cow!

Big cow!

A goat!

Just a nice view.

One of my kiddos took a picture of herself reflecting in the water from a dock.  I am glad she was wearing her wrist strap on her camera.

That is pretty much it.  My kids took all of these photographs as they are both budding, young photographers.  I do not know where they get it from.