Fish Trivia Quiz

Answer: Atlantic salmon

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) can grow up to 75 cm length and about 4.5 kg weight. Young salmon start hunting after a few days and, as they grow bigger, they move towards the sea. Most Atlantic salmon that go out to sea, wind up to the west of Greenland.

When the Atlantic salmon became threatened by overfishing, various farmers started aquaculture of salmon. The salmon from large aquafarms are usually fed more shrimps than the wild species consume, in order to obtain the delicate pink colour of the flesh.

The bigmouth buffalo is a pure freshwater fish from North America. It can reach 1.2 m length and 29 kg weight.

The armoured sea robin is a bottom dwelling fish, living at the bottom of tropical seas up to 200 metres in depth.

The eeltail catfish is a fish with several barbels at the head, and a serpent-like tail. It lives mostly in the Indian and Pacific Ocean.

Answer: Brown trout

The brown trout (Salmo trutta) is a medium sized fish, growing up to 1 metre length and about 20 kg weight. Some brown trout stay all their life in the same river, some swim towards a lake, and some go up to sea to mate.

The chain pickerel is a freshwater fish living in the southern part of the USA.

The goblin shark is a type of shark found in deeper waters (100 meters or a bit more) near Mexico, Brazil, France, Senegal, South-Africa and Japan.

Jewel cichlids are very brightly coloured fish from Africa. Most of the West-African species live in freshwater or brackish water. 

Answer: Atlantic Halibut

The Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) is a flatfish which lives always turned upon its left side. Both its eyes are at its right side. Halibuts take quite a long time to mature: they become only sexually active when they reach the age of eight years (male) or eleven years (female). Its lifespan may reach up to fifty years.

Atlantic halibuts typically lie down on the bottom of the sea, catching whatever fish that comes too close.

The Atlantic halibut is an endangered species due to overfishing, so some countries have started aquaculture of Atlantic halibut.

The zebra lionfish is an orange spiny fish living in the Indian Ocean and the West of the Pacific Ocean.

Lemon sharks, a subspecies of the well-known shark family, live in shallow subtropical sea shores, mainly near the Caribbean Sea.

Wrymouths are spiny eel-like fish, reddish brown when seen from above. They live on the sandy bottom of North-American Atlantic seashores.

Answer: Rainbow sardine

The rainbow sardine (Dussumiera acuta) is also known by various other names, such as common sprat or rainbow herring. These fish don't get longer than about 20 cm. Rainbow sardines live from the Persian Gulf to Indonesia. However, one of the subspecies has migrated into the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.

Climbing catfish are also small fish, but they live off the Pacific coast of South-America.

Dusky groupers are found on the African shores of the Mediterranean. They are usually 50 to 100 cm long, but may reach a length of 150 cm. Their weight, typically about 3 kg, can exceptionally reach 60kg.

Football fish are remarkable deep sea creatures. Males grow to 4 cm, while females reach 60 cm of length.

Answer: European anchovy

The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) can reach a maximum length of 21 cm. It is similar to sprats or sardines, but has a deeper cleft mouth. The greater population is found in the Mediterranean, while there have been anchovies spawning in the Zuiderzee (Netherlands). There are also traces of anchovies in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (near the Crimean peninsula).

The Atlantic bonito is much larger: up to 75 cm and 5 - 6 kg. The bonito lives in the Atlantic Ocean, from Norway to the Azores.

The black angelfish lives in New Zealand, over shallow reefs.

The fusilier fish, up to 60 cm length, lives in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Answer: Atlantic Cod

The Atlantic cod (Gladus morua) is commonly about 100 cm long, but it can grow to double this size. The cod weighs up to 96 kg. Cod swim in large shoals, with the strongest and largest fish scouting ahead. Atlantic cod live near the Atlantic coasts (America, Greenland, Europe). There is also a Pacific cod, living in the Pacific Ocean, but that is significantly smaller.
The Atlantic cod has the status of vulnerable species, because of overfishing.

The Antarctic icefish lives at the other end of the world, in the Antarctic Ocean.

The Bombay duck is not a bird (as you would expect), but a whitish fish originating from the islands near India.

The dory is a silvery disc-like fish. It populates all major oceans.

Answer: Yellowfin tuna

The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is not the largest tuna. Yellowfin tunas can weigh up to 180 kg, while the Atlantic Bluefin and the Pacific Bluefin each weigh more than double. Yellowfin tunas can reach a length of more than 2m.

Because of their excellent aerodynamic shape and because of their muscular build, yellowfins can swim up to 75 km/h, making them one of the fastest animals at sea.

The red velvetfish is a small fish living near Australia. It may measure up to 30 cm.

The blue gourami is a small fish (about 15cm) living in south Asia while the
green pufferfish is another small fish from Asia. It becomes about 17cm long.

Answer: Marlin

Marlins can grow up to 5 m length and weigh up to more than 800 kg. The Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) lives off the coast of the Americas in tropical waters. This is the species Hemingway wrote about in "The Old Man and the Sea". Black marlins (Istiompax indica) are a bit smaller and live in the Indian Ocean. Many sport fishers dream of catching a marlin, the biggest game fish hunted by line.

The Celebes rainbowfish is a small fish (5-8 cm) living near Indonesia. Contrary to their name, they are not very colourful but more or less transparent.

Frogmouth catfish also live near Indonesia. They can reach a maximum length of 20 cm.

The humuhumunukunukuapua'a is a small Hawaiian fish. I did not find an exact measurement, but it has been said "the name is longer than the fish". The humuhumunukunukuapua'a can change its colour depending on mood and health situation.

Answer: Giant manta

Did the word wingspan strike you as odd for a fish? Well, it is quite an odd fish too. The giant manta (Manta birostris) is about 3 m long, but it can spread its pectoral fins to reach out for up to 7 metres. That's why I've used the word wingspan: when deploying its fins at maximum width, a manta is quite similar (seen from afar) to a large bird such as a bald eagle or a condor.

Although its size suggests that a manta would be a terrible predator, it feeds on plankton - of which they need a lot, of course.

Northern lampfish are small fish, approximately 13 cm.

The Pompano dolphinfish may reach a length of 127 cm and has only small pectoral fins.

The orangespine unicornfish can reach a length of 45 cm. It has two spiny orange protrusions near the tail, and a black face with bright orange lips.  

Answer: European eel

European eels (Anguilla Anguilla) mate and spawn in the Sargasso Sea near the Caribbean. The larvae drift across the Gulf Stream towards Europe, where they enter the rivers and take on their adult appearance. Eels normally grow to 60-80 cm, but, exceptionally, eels of over 1 metre length can be found. Young eels seem yellowish-brownish, whereas the mature eels take on silvery-white colours.

The blobfish is supposedly a rather short (30 cm) fish living at great depth (600 - 1,200 m) between Australia and New Zealand. As it is a gelatinous "blob", the blobfish caught in deep nets may look quite differently than living species at the sea bottom.

Emperor angelfish are colourful fish from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They can reach 40 cm length.

The greenling is a small to medium fish living from California to Alaska. Its maximum length is about 50 cm.