Fishosaur

SPIDERS LIVE UNDER WATER (Argyroneta Aquatica)

Sorry to shout, but SPIDERS CAN LIVE UNDER WATER. Here at Fishosaur, we're all about ginormous and/or strange fishes posing with humans, mainly for the shock value of it all.

But, to our Board of Directors, there's nothing more shocking, scary, and downright frightening than the fact that a certain species of spiders - Argyroneta Aquatica - can live underwater. In fact, they go through their entire life cycle there, thanks to an "air bell". They trap air bubbles and then form them into the silvery air bell shown below using silk (link). They then use the air bell in part like a scuba tank and in part as a place to rear their young and eat their prey. The fact that they live in Europe and our Board of Directors doesn't doesn't matter, that's still too close.

This is like a huge, cosmic joke with you as the punch line.

Video:

Canadian Ice Fishing Girl catches huge walleye. Holy shoot!

For almost three years now, the Ice Fishing community has been abuzz about the video below showing a young Canadian lady catching a huge walleye. The video is a bit hard to understand because they're not only speaking Canadian but it was shot in Saskatchewan, a Canadian province whose main cities include Regina, Saskatoon, and Moose Jaw. For those not familiar with where Canada is, it's north of Montana and North Dakota.

Enough geography! Not only does the walleye pose with the young Canadian, but she (the 27" walleye) gives the camera a close-up. Watch:

World record yellowfin tuna: 405 pounds!

A world record yellowfin tuna deserves not just one but two videos, right? These show Mike Livingston and friends posing with his record-busting catch: a 405 pound yellow fin tuna, breaking a 30-year record.

Livingston is from the Vagabond sport fishing boat which is run by San Diego's Point Loma Sportfishing.

For the first, you'll need to tilt your laptop or desk to the left:

The second is right-side-up and has even more posing:

Whale poses with, lands on yacht in South Africa

A few days ago, a tragic modeling accident occurred off the coast of South Africa. A whale was just playing around and decided to pose with a couple in their yacht. However, as he breached out of the water, he realized he was too close and ended up... crashing into their sail boat!

Here's a CNN report, picture of the after-effects below:

Giant jellyfish no match for Japanese blender technology

As we've previously reported, Japan is being attacked by giant jellyfish. The plucky Japanese have responded valiantly by putting the ferocious man-eating beasts into blenders. But, the good news is that researchers theorize blended giant jellyfish might be used to treat people with dry eyes.

When deep sea fishing goes horribly wrong

OK, things didn't go that wrong, but I certainly wouldn't want something like this to happen to me. Imagine you're just innocently deep sea fishing when this happens. And, no, I'm not going to tell you what happens, you'll have to watch it yourself.

Disclaimer: while this site normally concentrates on fish posing with people, in this case we've received a special dispensation.

A Wels Catfish photo spectacular

Not all of these are photos of the Wels catfish (Weller, Silurus glanis), a ginormous beastie mostly found in Europe and famously in the Ebro River in Spain. And, the soundtrack is some wimpy pop tune rather than the folk metal that most experts agree fits in more with the fishes' mood. And, none of the pictures involve noodling. That said, enjoy.

German man poses with alleged world record common carp

This video shows a German posing with his friend and business associate, the alleged world record common carp. I say alleged because the video is four years old (3.5 years in carp years) and someone else claims to have caught a larger carp. However, whether they're referring to the same subspecies isn't clear.

Rather than quibbling, I suggest just enjoying the video, especially the "techno" soundtrack (a genre that's very popular in Europe).

My German is a bit rusty, but as close as I can make out, he and his associate travel from town to town in Europe on modeling assignments, supermarket openings and the like pausing only to occasionally douse his partner in water. While catfish can weigh hundreds of pounds, and mola mola can reach over a couple tons, in Europe the common carp is revered for their pagan rituals, and a 76lb 7oz example is king.

Giant Squid-fest 2009

Here's a slideshow video featuring several photographs of giant squids posing with humans. Or, the other way around if you prefer. Now, you might wonder why the guy in the orange safety vest is lying down next to one of the gigantic beasties, and you might really wonder why a group of people are in what looks like a hot tub with another, but it's all in the name of science:

Massive 771lb stingray poses with British, Thais

A world record stingray - weighing a massive 771 pounds and measuring 7' in diameter with a 10' tail - was recently spotted in Thailand posing with freshwater biologist boffin Ian Welch and his pals (link, link, link). The stingray initially resisted the posing, even going as far as dragging Welch across his boat. He (Welch) was there to tag various creatures as part of a conservancy thing or something along the Maeklong River. The ray - which was a pregnant female - was released and went on her way.

There is some dispute over the weight of his friend, with some saying it was only a few hundred pounds. However, based on the fact that it took 13 men to assist in the posing, I will assume for the moment that the 771 lb. figure is correct.

Barreleye fish finally caught on video

The "barreleye" fish (Macropinna microstoma) is one of the stranger creatures you're going to see this week. The two spots above its mouth are not eyes but are the equivalent of nostrils. Its eyes are the large green objects inside its translucent head. The video was actually shot in 2004 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (link) but was only released yesterday.

Note that the eyes can rotate in its head depending on where its prey is located and of course where any predators are. The video was shot between about 2000 and 2600' below the surface off the central California coast.

Special note: while this site usually deals with large fishes - especially those which are posing with humans - we've received a special dispensation in this case since the translucent head occupies a large part of this beastie's body.

Pike ice fishing video is true 'cinema'

There are a lot of ice fishing videos available online, for everything from walleye to muskie to pike and beyond. However, once per decade, a video comes along that blows them all away and earns the coveted Fishosaur "Two Fins Up, Way Up" award.

And, "Pike 13.4 kgs( 29 lbs 9 oz)" is that video.

Don't let its prosaic name fool you. It has it all, including a long, introductory scene - shot in real time, cinema verite fashion - followed by a brief surrealistic section where the camera is turned at a 90 degree angle. However, then the tension begins, and the fish suddenly emerges from the ice hole (compare with deus ex machina from Greek drama). A modernistic, fast-paced section follows with the hook being removed from the fish's mouth using forceps. Then, the pike - the true diva of this extravaganza being lifted aloft to be weighed. The ending... well, I won't spoil that for you, but it will leave you wondering, "what happened?"

Bravo. Moltissimo bravo!

Giant cuttlefish hunts diver! Where are the dolphins when you need them?

A new seafood "chef" has been located: a female bottlenose dolphin off the Australian coast meticulously followed a procedure to remove the bones and ink from cuttlefish (link). Scientists speculate that this "recipe" might be passed down through generations. I speculate that one day the dolphins will rise up out of the seas and challenge our hegemony.

Meanwhile, you're asking, "what's a cuttlefish"? It looks like a garden slug, it has tentacles like an octopus, and it has three hearts pumping blue-green blood (link). One of these beasties is shown on the following video earnestly trying to hunt a human diver. Either that, or just being curious:

Catching a world record striped marlin

This site is torn. Fish are food. At the same time, fish are sea kittens. So, please don't tell PETA that I'm linking to the following video of a 345 pound world-record marlin being taken (that's a euphemism) off the coast of New Zealand a couple years ago. The mur... I mean, the spear fisherman was Dave Mullins, and he was "towed around the Pacific Ocean" for two and a half hours before what's shown on the video occurred.

Please don't tell PETA.

PETA's "sea kittens" spotted!

PETA's latest desperate cry for attention is their attempt to rename fish "sea kittens". No, really: link. What were they thinking? Were they thinking? Some attention is completely counter-productive, and this wacky plan is the very definition.

Despite what they think, I'm not about to change the name of this site to SeaKittenOSaur.com, but I was able to locate some sea kittens, which you can see on the following video: