Habitat of the Orca Killer Whales & Sea Creatures

The orca, or "killer whale" (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale and is the largest member of the dolphin family. It is highly social and composed of matrilineal family groups. Orcas have long, rounded bodies with large dorsal fins at the middle of their backs. Their black bodies are marked with white patches on the underside and near the eyes.While killer whales can be found around the world, they are much more common in highly productive areas of cold-water upwelling; including the Pacific Northwest, along northern Norway's coast in the Atlantic, and the higher latitudes of the Southern Ocean.In addition to being found in colder water, killer whales also have been seen in warm water areas such as Florida, Hawaii, Australia, the Galapagos Islands, the Bahamas, and the Gulf of Mexico and more temperate waters such as New Zealand and South Africa. Such sightings are infrequent, but they do demonstrate the killer whales' ability to venture into tropical waters.Rarely, killer whales have been seen in fresh water rivers around the world such as the Rhine, the Thames, and the Elbe. One even traveled some 177 km (110 mi.) up the Columbia River in pursuit of fish.                                       

Air-Breathing Fish Discovered

Air-Breathing Fish Discovered in the Amazon. Research published by National Geographic explorer Donald J. Stewart and colleagues L. Cynthia Watson and Annette M. Kretzer in the journal Copeia this week reveals strong genetic evidence for an unknown new species of arapaima that was found at several locations in southwestern Guyana.Biology professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in New York, says the team sampled hundreds of the giant fish in the Essequibo and Branco River basins in Guyana. The Branco is part of the Amazon system while the Essequibo drains separately into the Atlantic. The team found two sets of fish with highly distinct genetic markers at three locations in the Essequibo

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/new-arapaima-species-discovered-guyana-fish/

Shark Research

Giant Whale Shark

Research team of bangladesh is going to concentrate on Shark research with chief scientist Md. Muzammel Hossain. He reported to Sharklab Banladesh and posted on his facebook well that The whale shark inhabits all tropical and warm-temperate seas. The fish is primarily pelagic, living in the open sea but not in the greater depths of the ocean. The dead Whale Shark discarded at the mouth of town’s main canal. Fishermen castoff a giant Whale Shark in the coastal Patharghata town on 16 November 2016 after it was throttled to death in fishing net off-shore Barguna. The shark was caught about 18 kilometers off-shore and dragged back to the fish landing center. It is weight about 300kg. Whale sharks are the largest fish on the planet. These gentle giants are filter-feeders and are harmless to humans. The enormous whale shark, which can reach lengths of 40 feet or more, feeds on the tiniest of ocean organisms, plankton. The globally endangered migratory fish oftentimes get caught in the fishing net in marine areas of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal. IUCN Status is Vulnerable and this shark population day by day is decreasing. This shark species is highly limited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to which Bangladesh is a party. Threats to the whale shark include habitat loss which results in loss of prey species, coastal development resulting in marine pollution, collision with boats, and disturbance or harassment by fishing net, boats and divers engaged in irresponsible tourism activities.

Discovered New Species (Danio annulosus)

Dr. Sven Oscar Kullander and Dr. Michael Noren had came from Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm University to research on freshwater fishes of Bangladesh during December 2014. Sven Oscar Kullander is a big scientist in ichthyology. During the study period Md. Muzammel Hossain was assist in the field trip and discovered Danio annulosus, new species, is discribed from a small pool below the Shuvolong Falls in the Kaptai Lake system in Bangladesh.

The species is named and described jointly by Sven O Kullander, M.D Mizanur Rahman, Michael Noren and Abdur Rob Mollah in 2015 in association with the Department of Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Sweden and the Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study and paper on Danio annulosus was published in ZooTaxa both online and in print in the same year 2015.It was collected from a small pool at the bottom of the Shuvolong Falls in the Kaptai Lake system in Rangamati district in the Chittagong division, Bangladesh. Danio annulosus is so for known only from a small pool below the shuvolong waterfalls during the summer when the water was stand still in the pool. There is a good chance of finding them in Kaptai lake system formed by the damming of Karnafuli River, as a small stream drains the pool to kapati lake.

(from left Dr. Michael Noren, middle Md. Muzammel Hossain and right Dr. Sven Oscar Kullander with new species)

Sven Oscar Kullander (born in Sollefteå, 30 November 1952) is a Swedish biologist specialised in ichthyology. He primarily researches cichlids – notably the genus Apistogramma and the Cichlasoma-complex – and other tropical fresh water fishes. He also has been working with endangered fish species in Sweden. He studied at the universities of Umeå and Stockholm, and took his Ph.D. in Stockholm in 1984. He is currently senior curator at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, with the responsibility for the ichthyologic and herpetologic collections. Kullander also coordinates the museum's contributions to FishBase.

Kullander has produced more than 100 scientific and popular publications on fishes, and described many groups and new species of cichlids.

The Swedish aquarists' magazine Tidskriften Akvariet gave him "Akvariets Oscar" ("the Aquarium Academy Award") in 1996 for his great contribution to the aquarium hobby. His wife Fang Fang Kullander (1962–2010) was also an ichthyologist at the Swedish Museum. 

Michael Noren. Curator of Fishbase Sweden, Swedish Museum of Natural History

(Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danio_annulosus)