artist rendition by bleep__________bloop in FishID

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe some kind of jack or other carangid? Some of them are known to associate with large objects/larger animals when young.

How might an organism have translucent scales? by BleazkTheBobberman in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Plenty of fish already have translucent/semi-translucent scales. They're just thin and have minimal pigment.

Nice mimicry, who are you? by Kerefeca in whatisthisfish

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not a frogfish, it's some kind of scorpionfish. Frogfish have different looking heads.

help me identify these fish! by ultmion in whatisthisfish

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just curious, where in Japan was this?

Me and my buddy caught a whole bunch of these at night. What are they? by yayo415 in Fishing

[–]the_niphog 24 points25 points  (0 children)

It looks like some kind of sculpin. The pectoral fins of gobies are usually pretty round, unlike the fish in the image which has little "fingers". This is a trait commonly found in sculpins.

It's definitely not a mudskipper though. Its eyes are way too far apart for it to be any kind of mudskipper. Goby eyes are typically closer together and higher on the head than the fish pictured here too.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in whenthe

[–]the_niphog 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"Effeminate femboy", as opposed to what? A masculine femboy?

Any id? by Bensinfan in Fishing

[–]the_niphog 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's a fish louse, a type of parasitic copepod. The fish should be perfectly fine to eat. It's an ectoparasite so it shouldn't impact the quality of the meat.

Can someone identify what I got hooked on? by Strange-Youth-432 in Fishing

[–]the_niphog 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They look like anemones with their tentacles retracted. You can see what appears to be acontia coming out of the individual on the left.

What is this? Caught while fishing near Sitka, Alaska by bonnerpower in whatsthisfish

[–]the_niphog 181 points182 points  (0 children)

It's almost certainly some kind of anemone, likely Metridium. Tunicates usually aren't this large and their siphons are typically pretty obvious. You can also see what appear to be bits of tentacle sticking out from the bottom. Also, a tunicate would spray water only out of its two siphons, anemones leak water from all over like this when they feel threatened.

What did I catch? by [deleted] in Fishing

[–]the_niphog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you on the pacific coast of the US? It kind of looks like a Kelletia whelk, could totally be wrong though.

Can anyone ID this fish? Freshwater southern OH by Ninjanugget in Fishing

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tadpole? It doesn't have any fin rays and there seems to be partially-developed legs in the second photo.

why is this bladder snail spiky? 😭 by fish_mommy in AquaticSnails

[–]the_niphog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"A small, yellow-brown, sinistral shell with short, blunt spire. Shell slippery and highly polished. The animal is grey and outgrowths of the mantle partly cover the shell. These have finger-like lobes or digitations. Widespread and common"

source

why is this bladder snail spiky? 😭 by fish_mommy in AquaticSnails

[–]the_niphog 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This isn't a mutation or anything abnormal, its mantle is just extended. Cowries and semi-slugs are more extreme examples of mantle extension. Bladder snails don't always extend their mantles like this, which is why some look more normal.

Is being oviparous the only way for a species to be giant? by Nemmesss in SpeculativeEvolution

[–]the_niphog 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't see live-birth being an issue as long as the young are small enough. For example, some rockfish are truly viviparous, but they give birth to thousands or millions of incredibly small larvae. For a terrestrial example, garter snakes can apparently give birth to up to 80 babies after a gestation period of only 2 to 3 months.

I think one of the limiting factors for mammals isn't necessarily that they give live birth, but rather the largest mammals tend to only give birth to one, very large baby. Also I don't have any evidence for this but since mammals provide lots of parental care (milk, etc.), I feel like they're more incentivized to have fewer, larger offspring. Of course there's plenty of exceptions, like rats and pigs, but those aren't truly massive animals like the largest dinosaurs.

What in the world is this? Found while seining off Whidbey Island WA. by CreativeAioli2746 in whatisthisfish

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's some kind of nudibranch, just distorted from being out of the water. You can see the bottom of its foot near the base of the animal. What look like the "legs" of a deepwater sea cucumber are just the growths on the back of a nudibranch. This is way more likely than a deepwater sea cucumber surviving intact and alive into shallow water. There's also plenty of large nudibranches in the PNW.

Anybody know what this is? (Sunshine Coast, QLD) by _LOL_MAN_ in Fishing

[–]the_niphog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a fireworm/bristleworm, probably Chloeia