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Pachymetopon Aeneum
''Pachymetopon aeneum'', the blue hottentot, is a species of marine demersal ray-finned fish belonging to the family (family Sparidae) which includes the seabreams and porgies. It is endemic to the south and east coasts of South Africa. Distribution Only known from False Bay to Sodwana Bay. Depth range usually from 20 to 50 m. Subtropical, from 28°S to 34°S. Description A silvery bronze fish, streaked with blue, with a darker blue head, and with the head shorter than body depth. The blues fade after death. There are 2.2 to 2.5 depths to the standard length, and the pectoral fins are longer than the head. The snout profile is slightly concave in adult males, and a there is characteristic bulge between the eyes. The lateral line smoothly follows the curve of the back. The fish has a small mouth with five rows of incisors in each jaw, and no molars. The dorsal fin is soft, with 10 to 11 spines and 11 to 13 rays. The anal fin is scaled at the base and has 3 spines and 10 rays ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsitsikamma National Park
The Tsitsikamma National Park is a protected area on the Garden Route, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is a coastal reserve well known for its indigenous forests, dramatic coastline, and the Otter Trail. On 6 March 2009 it was amalgamated with the Wilderness National Park and various other areas of land to form the Garden Route National Park. The park covers an long stretch of coastline. Nature's Valley is at the western end of the park, and the main accommodation is at Storms River Mouth. Near the park is the Bloukrans Bridge, the world's highest bridge bungee jump at . The word "Tsitsikamma" originates from the Khoekhoe language ''tse-tsesa'', meaning "clear", and ''gami'', meaning "water", probably referring to the clear water of the Tsitsikamma River. Other meanings are 'place of much water' and 'waters begin'. Camps Storms River Various amenities, including a restaurant, shop, chalets, campsite and caravan park, information centre, adventure booking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gilchrist (zoologist)
John Dow Fisher Gilchrist (1866–1926) was a Scottish ichthyologist, who established ichthyology as a scientific discipline in South Africa. He was instrumental in the development of marine biology in South Africa and of a scientifically based local fishing industry. Education and career Gilchrist was born in Anstruther, Fife, Scotland in 1866. His early education was at Madras College, St Andrews, Scotland. He studied at the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) and a Master of Arts (MA). He was awarded an 1851 Exhibition scholarship for advanced studies and research, which enabled him to study feeding in marine fishes. After further studies at the University of Munich and the University of Zurich he obtained his PhD in geology at Jena University in 1894. He studied marine biology in Naples, Monaco and the Isle of Man before returning to teach zoology at the University of Edinburgh. During his three months a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Wardlaw Thompson
William Wardlaw Thompson (date of birth unknown - died 1917) was a South African ichthyologist and zoologist. It is known that he was educated at the South African College in Cape Town between 1858 and 1863 and that he obtained a post on the civil service of the Cape Colony in 1877 in the Railway Department as a temporary clerk. In January 1878 he secured a permanent post as a clerk in the Public Works Department, where he was promoted to First Clerk in 1882. In January 1885 he was transferred to the position of Chief records Clerk at the Crown Lands Office being promoted in July 1889 to first class clerk at the Department of Agriculture attaining the post of acting chief clerk there in November 1897. Prior to this he had taken and passed his Civil Service Law examinations and he also served with the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles in the Transkei during the 9th Frontier War in February to May 1879 and in Basutoland in September 1880 to March 1881 during the Basuto Gun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Life
Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. Marine organisms, mostly microorganisms, produce oxygen and sequester carbon. Marine life in part shape and protect shorelines, and some marine organisms even help create new land (e.g. coral building reefs). Most life forms evolved initially in marine habitats. By volume, oceans provide about 90% of the living space on the planet. The earliest vertebrates appeared in the form of fish, which live exclusively in water. Some of these evolved into amphibians, which spend portions of their lives in water and portions on land. One group of amphibians evolved into reptiles and mammals and a few subsets of each returned to the ocean as sea snakes, sea turtles, seals, manatees, and whales. Plant forms such as kelp and other algae grow in the wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray-finned Fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines (rays), as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize the class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish). These actinopterygian fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeletal elements, the radials, which represent the link or connection between these fins and the internal skeleton (e.g., pelvic and pectoral girdles). By species count, actinopterygians dominate the vertebrates, and they constitute nearly 99% of the over 30,000 species of fish. They are ubiquitous throughout freshwater and marine environments from the deep sea to the highest mountain streams. Extant species can range in size from ''Paedocypris'', at , to the massive ocean sunfish, at , and the long-bodied oarfish, at . The vast majority of Actinoptery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparidae
The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a broad space from the eye, a single dorsal fin with strong spines and soft rays, a short anal fin, long pointed pectoral fins and rather large firmly attached scales. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. There are hermaphrodites in the Sparidae. Protogyny and protandry appear sporadically through this lineage of fish. Simultaneous hermaphrodites and bi-directional hermaphrodites do not appear as much since Sparidae are found in shallower waters. Species of fish that express a hermaphroditic condition usually "lack a genetic hardwire", therefore ecological factors play a role in sex determination. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth. Eating the head is known to cause hallu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Bay
False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcated by Cape Point to the west and Cape Hangklip to the east. The north side of the bay is the low-lying Cape Flats, and the east side is the foot of the Hottentots Holland Mountains to Cape Hangklip which is at nearly the same latitude as Cape Point. In plan the bay is approximately square, being roughly the same extent from north to south as east to west, with the southern side open to the ocean. The seabed slopes gradually down from north to south, and is mostly fairly flat unconsolidated sediments. Much of the bay is off the coast of the City of Cape Town, and it includes part of the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area and the whole of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area. The name "False Bay" was applied at least three hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodwana Bay
Sodwana Bay is a bay in South Africa on the KwaZulu Natal north coast, between St. Lucia and Lake Sibhayi. It is in the Sodwana Bay National Park, and the Maputaland Marine Reserve, and is a popular recreational diving destination. The term is commonly used to refer to both the marine reserve and the terrestrial park, as well as the geographical bay. Sodwana Bay National Park is a narrow strip of forested sand dunes located along the east coast. Proclaimed a national park in the 1950s, it is frequented by anglers and divers. Sodwana is situated in the Maputaland Marine Protected Area and is the only recreational scuba diving area along the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park (now renamed to iSimangaliso) coastline. Classified as one of the top dive sites in the world, the park is visited by some 35 000 scuba divers per year. The bay is near the southern end of the tropical western Indo-Pacific marine ecoregion, and reef-building corals are present. The reef complex is the habitat of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demersal
The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of the larger profundal zone. Being just above the ocean floor, the demersal zone is variable in depth and can be part of the photic zone where light can penetrate, and photosynthetic organisms grow, or the aphotic zone, which begins between depths of roughly and extends to the ocean depths, where no light penetrates. Fish The distinction between demersal species of fish and pelagic species is not always clear cut. The Atlantic cod (''Gadus morhua'') is a typical demersal fish, but can also be found in the open water column, and the Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is predominantly a pelagic species but forms large aggregations near the seabed when it spawns on banks of gravel. Two types of fish inhabit the demersal zone: those ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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