Colorful small fish hunting birds. Machranga is called kingfisher in English. Its scientific name is Alcinidae. Macharanga is a small to medium sized and brightly colored bird. They have a cosmopolitan relationship with most species in tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Oceania. The fish family contains 114 species and is divided into three subfamilies and 19 genera. All pisces have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and webbed tails. Fish usually live near rivers, streams, canals, ponds, etc. They hunt fish from underwater. Kingfishers average 10 centimeters (3.9 in) in length and weigh between 9 and 12 grams (0.32 and 0.42 oz).
The common macharanga is known as Pati macharanga. Their English name is Common Kingfisher. Their scientific name is Alcedo atthis. Common kingfisher is also known as Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher. It is a small fish with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. They inhabit most of its outlying areas, but migrate from areas where rivers freeze in winter. Sits quietly on the trees above the water; Often seen as a turquoise flash over water in very fast low flight. They have a length of about 1 cm (3 in) and a wingspan of 25 cm (9.8 in) and weigh 34–46 g.
Chitranga masranga is known as spotted or twisted masranga. Their English name is Pied kingfisher. Their scientific name is Ceryle rudis. They generally roam over water to hunt. They are a medium-sized fish, measuring about 25 cm (9.8 in) long and weighing 35–38 g. Their skin color is black and white. They have a white face with a black mask, a white supercilium and a black breast band. They are found in sub-Saharan Africa extending to western Asia, and similarly from Afghanistan to eastern, India, Thailand and Southeast Asia in the tribe Leucomelanura.
Giant and giant kingfishers are the largest kingfisher species in Africa. Their English name is Giant Kingfisher. Their scientific name is Megaceryle maxima. It is a breeding bird that inhabits much of the continent south of the Sahara desert, on the other hand, where it is in the arid southwest. They are about 42–46 cm (16.5–18 in) long and weigh 255–425 g. Like all piscivorous species, they can roam and hunt fish in open water.
The Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher is commonly known as the Three-legged Kingfisher. Their English name is Oriental dwarf kingfisher. Their scientific name is Ceyx erithaca. The Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher is one of the smallest known kingfisher species. They are slightly larger than medium-sized hummingbirds, measuring 12.5-14 cm in length. Females weigh 14-16 grams and males weigh 14-21.5 grams. They are generally endemic to the Indian subcontinent and much of Southeast Asia and live in lowland forests and near streams or ponds. They eat insects, spiders, worms, crabs, fish, frogs and lizards.
The white-throated kingfisher is also known as the white-breasted kingfisher. Their English name is White-throated Kingfisher. Their scientific name is Halcyon smyrnensis (Halcyon smyrnensis). Among the species of fish, they are the largest fish. They are 25–27 cm (10.6–11.00 in) in length. Their adults have a bright blue wing and tail. Its head, shoulders, rump and underbelly are chestnut and the throat and breast are white, the large bill and legs are bright red. They spread widely across the subcontinent from Sinai east to the Philippines in Asia. They are often found far from water. They usually eat small reptiles, amphibians, crabs, small rodents, etc.
Our Nation’s forests and grasslands provide some of the most important habitats for wildlife and fish. They provide countless benefits—ecological, recreational, economic, and cultural—to both nature and society. Existing and emerging threats, such as habitat loss, climate change, and invasive species, affect the ability of our Nation's forests and grasslands to support healthy wildlife and fish populations for future generations.
Plants are also crucial to the maintenance of healthy ecosystems. Native plants provide natural beauty and help fend off invasive plants. Native plants also support wildlife, often serving as a source of food and shelter. Invasive plant species have the potential to permanently change a native plant community by taking over and outcompeting native plants.
Wildlife' includes the National Wildlife program, the National Wildlife Ecology program, and Wildlife Research & Development. The national Wildlife Program assists field biologists in attaining the Chief's wildlife priorities and manage wildlife habitat resources from a healthy ecosystem perspective.
Forest Service scientists study fish, wildlife and their habitats in order to inform land management and address existing and emerging threats, such as climate change and habitat fragmentation. Their work focuses on restoration and conservation of wildlife habitats and connectivity across large landscapes; effective management of terrestrial wildlife and their habitats under future climate scenarios; development of innovative protocols for inventory and monitoring of wildlife populations and habitats; and strategies to meet growing demands for water, energy, and other forest‐ and grassland-based commodities while ensuring the sustainability and diversity of wildlife and fish.
Between 2008 and 2015, the U.S. Forest Service and partners removed or upgraded over 1,000 culverts and road-stream crossings for Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) across the country courtesy of the Legacy Roads & Trails Program. One of the best investments our agency can make to help aquatic ecosystems respond to the stresses of a changing climate is to restore the ability of fish to move freely, including beneath our expansive road system. Fish need to be able to access many different parts of a stream network to find cold water during the summer, to spawn, and to feed so they can grow larger. Come explore this story map to see some examples from around the country of some of the outstanding partnership projects that helped the US Forest Service achieve this milestone for fish, aquatic health, flood resiliency and protection of local transportation infrastructure.
The Flamboyant Cuttlefish resides in the tropical Indo-Pacific oceans. It favors sandy and muddy habitats at depths ranging from 10 to 282 feet.
This small sea creature displays a brown body, highlighted with white, yellow, and rich purple-pink. Due to chromatophores and pigment cells in its skin, it can alter colors. Its mantle is wide, oval-shaped, and arms have four lines of suckers.
A predator at heart, it feeds on crustaceans and fish. Meanwhile, it falls prey to seals, dolphins, and larger fish.
Fish Crows sport an all-black body, much like its relatives. It typically measures 14 to 16 inches in length. This species' distinguishing feature is its short, nasal, muffled call, different from the typical caw of other species.
These types of crows live mainly in the coastal regions and inland waters in the United States. Its diet includes fish and other seafood, hence the name, along with seeds, insects, and occasional food scraps.
Marine ecologist Kerryn Parkinson found the next animal on our list of weirdest animals in 2003. The blobfish is a deep-sea animal occupying the southeastern coast of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand waters. Blobfish won the ugliest animal online vote in 2013.
The gelatinous fish has different anatomical functions from other fish species. It lacks skeletons or muscles. The fish’s body comprises a blobby substance with a lower density than water. It helps them stay flat above the sea floor. Half its body mass contains its head, large black eyes, a huge mouth, and a bulbous nose.
Also, blobfish don’t have a swim bladder. It works to its benefit because it allows it to control buoyancy. It lives at sea depths ranging from 2000 to 3900 ft. The ocean at this depth has pressure 60 to 120 times greater than the sea surface. The lack of swim bladders prevents implosion at these depths.
With its single closed circulatory system, it can grow up to one foot long. They have a slow reproduction rate and live up to 100 years.
Next on the list of weird animals is the red-lipped batfish. The red-lipped batfish has a lipstick-red pout and frog-like legs. You can only find it on the Galapagos islands. It prefers the sandy bottom of reefs or the ocean. You’ll find the fish species at depths of 3 to 76 meters in the Pacific oceans or around the edges of reefs 120 meters deep at Galapagos islands.
It is a terrible swimmer and often uses its fins as legs to walk around the sandy bottoms of the ocean. Apart from the bright red color of its lips, the blobfish’s body color is light brown, with a gray back and white stomach.
It also has an appendage known as illicium on its head. Researchers think it uses it to lure prey in. It feeds on small fish, shrimp, and mollusks. Luckily, their conservation status is not threatened.
The next funniest animal name is, without a doubt, spot on! The fried egg jellyfish looks like a brilliantly cooked sunny-side up floating in the sea. Its tentacles form a colorful bowl-like shape.
The fried egg jellyfish is one of the few that are not harmful to humans. It feeds on zooplankton and other types of jellyfish. This type of jellyfish is also called egg yolk jellyfish since it looks more like an unbeaten raw egg floating in water than a fried egg.
The fish's face matches its funny name. Its human-like lips look like they're slathered in bright red lipstick. The rest of its body is greyish brown with a white underbelly. It has a pretty odd shape for a fish and a prominent snout at the top of its head.
Another odd thing about the red-lipped batfish is that it prefers to use its fins as pseudo-legs to walk along the seabed rather than swim. This bottom-dweller is endemic to the Galapagos Islands.
Silverfish, a nocturnal insect known for its fish-like shape, lives mostly in the dark. This insect transforms from a white hatchling to a metallic, grayish adult. Key features include two long cerci, a terminal filament, and, in a few species, small eyes.
After meat, fish is our primary source of proteins. However, is fish sustainable food? Sustainable seafood refers to seafood caught in the wild or farmed without causing a decline in marine life species. Fishes are abundant in the ocean, but the growing demand reduces their population.
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization estimates we overfish 85% of marine fish stocks. We move fish from their habitats before they can reproduce, reducing their population in the ecosystem. Other factors also make it difficult for fish to survive overfishing.
Things like rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, plastic, and chemical pollution affect fish populations, making it difficult for them to survive overfishing. Overfishing disrupts the marine food web, as fish are a source of nutrients for other marine animals.
These animals would enter a state of decline because they don't feed properly. Also, the method used to fish can cause environmental damage. For instance, bottom trawling is a fishing technique that involves dragging a big net across the seabed. This method catches everything in its path.
It puts endangered animal species, i.e., sea turtles, at risk. Furthermore, the net disturbs the seabed- releasing carbon stored in the sediments. It also reduces the capacity of these areas to absorb carbon in the future.
