Tag barbels

Leucistic Zebra Shark

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The Zebra Shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Stegostomatidae family of carpet sharks. It is an elasmobranch cartilaginous fish — a fish that does not have a bony skeleton.

A leucistic Zebra Shark has reduced colouring, but not complete albinism. An albino lacks colour (it looks white) and has pink eyes. A leucistic animal is light or white, but does not have pink eyes. It has brown, blue, or green eyes.

The Zebra Shark has a slim, cylindrical body with a slightly flattened head, and a short, blunt snout (nose). A regular Zebra Shark is pale with a pattern of dark spots. It has five ridges along its body. It eyes are small and its nose has short barbels (like whiskers) from each nostril. Its mouth is almost straight with rows of sharp teeth. It has gill slits on the sides of its body to breathe underwater. 

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CREATURE FEATURE: Redtail Catfish

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The Redtail Catfish (Phractocephalus hemioliopterus) is a freshwater fish in the Pimedodidae family of long-whiskered catfish. It is a pimelodid. 

The Redtail Catfish has a brownish spotted back with yellow sides and underbelly, and a red tail. Its body is elongated with a broad, flattened head. It has a pair of barbels (long fleshy, string structures) on the upper jaw and two pairs of barbels on the lower jaw.

Fish have scales, but the Redtail Catfish does not have scales. Instead of scales, it has slippery mucous-covered skin with bony plates called scutes.

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Loach Catfish

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The Loach Catfish (Amphilius grandis) is a freshwater fish in the Amphiliidae family of catfish. 

The Loach Catfish has an elongated, cylindrical brownish body. It has barbels at the corner of its mouth. It has a broad, flattened head that enables it to dig through the soil for food. Fish have scales, but the Loach Catfish does not have scales. Instead of scales, it has slippery mucous-covered skin with bony plates called scutes.

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Koi Carp

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The Koi Carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) is a freshwater fish in the Cyprinidae family of carp. Koi Carp are coloured varieties of the Amur Carp. It is a cyprinid fish.

The Koi Carp can be many colours, such as white, black, red, orange, yellow, blue, and cream. It is an oval-shaped fish with medium-to-large fins and tail. It has black eyes. It has short barbels on the corners of its mouth, like whiskers. 

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Wels Catfish

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The Wels Catfish (Silurus glanis) is a large freshwater fish in the Siluridae family of catfish. It is also called the Sheatfish. 

The Wels Catfish has a camouflaged colour similar to its environment, from black to greenish-brown. Its underbelly is whitish-yellow. It has a broad, flat head and a wide mouth. It has two long barbels (whisker-like flesh) at the corners of its upper jaw and four shorter barbels on its lower jaw. It has three or four rows of small teeth.

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Yoyo Loach

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The Yoyo Loach (Botia almorhae) is a tropical freshwater fish in the Botiidae (botid) family of loaches. It is also known as the Almora Loach.

The Yoyo Loach has an elongated body with dark and light patterns, which looks like the letter “y” or the word yoyo. Its tail has thin horizontal greyish stripes. It has short whiskers, called barbels, on its snout (nose). It has a downward-facing mouth.

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CREATURE FEATURE: Barred Catfish

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The Barred Catfish (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum) is a large freshwater fish in the Pimelodidae family of long-whiskered catfish. It is also called the Barred Sorubim. It is related to the Tiger Shovelnose Catfish. 

The Barred Catfish is dark-grey with black loop-like stripes and spots. Its head is depressed with a wide mouth and long whiskers, called barbels. Its eyes and teeth are small. 

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Siamese Flying Fox

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The Siamese Flying Fox (Epalzeorhynchus kallopterus) is a freshwater fish in the Cyprinidae family. 

The Siamese Flying Fox has an elongated, cylindrical body with a brownish-black, horizontal band from its eye to its tail. It also has a thinner, golden-coloured line above and below the black line. It has white and black edges on its fins. Its mouth is slightly forward protruding with two pairs of small barbels (whisker-like structures). It has red eyes. 

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Lake Victoria Squeaker

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The Lake Victoria Squeaker (Synodontis victoriae) is a freshwater upside-down catfish. It often swims upside down. It is called a squeaker because it makes a noise to communicate with one other.

The Lake Victoria Squeaker has a long narrow grey, silver, or brown body with dark round spots. Its underbelly is white. It has three pairs of barbels from its mouth – one pair on the upper jaw and two pairs on the lower jaw. Its caudal fin (tail fin) is deeply forked, with the upper part, called a lobe, longer than the lower lobe. It has a mouth sucker with several rows of short, chisel-shaped teeth.

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Silver Butter Catfish

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The Silver Butter Catfish (Schilbe intermedius) is a freshwater African catfish. It is a ray-finned fish.

The Silver Butter Catfish is silver with an olive-brown head. It has two thin, horizontal, dark-grey bands: one from the tail to the gills and a shorter one from the pectoral fins to the tail fin. It has transparent fins.

It has a shovel-mouth. It has nasal (nose) barbs, that extend upwards, and four pairs of short barbels around its lip and mouth, which look like the whiskers of a cat. Its eyes are slightly protruded.

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Epaulette Shark

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The Epaulette Shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) is a long-tailed carpet shark in the Hemiscyllidae family.

The Epaulette Shark is light brown with black spots. It has a large black spot behind each pectoral fin. It is called an eyespot because it looks like a large eye. The black spot has a white border. It has a long, slender body with paddle-shaped fins. At the tip of its nose it has a pair of small barbels (like whiskers). It has oval-shaped eyes.

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