Gone Fishing Trivia Quiz

Answer: They migrate between salt and fresh water

Most salmon live in fresh water during birth, mating and death but live out most of their adult life in the salt water ocean. The term for this is anadromous, but there are salmon that live their whole lives in fresh water.

Answer: Attacking prey

The sailfish is one of the faster fishes in the ocean. It raises its dorsal fin or sail only when it is attacking prey. It has an elongated bill with which it hunts smaller fish.

Answer: Basking shark

The vulnerable basking shark, at over 20,000 pounds, is the second biggest fish in the ocean. They swim with their large mouths wide open in order to feed on plankton. Because of over-fishing, many of the basking shark populations are now endangered.

Answer: They are extinct

With its rounded snout and large mouth the Dunkleosteus ate smaller fishes. It has been extinct for about 350 million years. It probably spent most of its time near the shore.

Answer: Clownfish

Usually a small yellow or orange fish, the clownfish makes its home amongst the predatory sea anemones. They are omnivorous fish that frequently eat fecal matter, algae, and pieces of sea anemone. They help by being a lure to other fish for the anemone.

Answer: Flounder

The flounder is a flatfish that lives on the bottom of the ocean. It dines on smaller fish and crustaceans. The unusual thing about the flounder is that, by the time it is adult, both of its eyes are on the same side of the fish.

Answer: Opah

The opah is fish that lives in most bodies of salt water around the world. It keeps its body temperature about five degrees above the surrounding water. Many species of this fish are clear in color. This fish is pelagic, living in the middle depths of the ocean, and solitary.

Answer: True

This endangered fish is the smallest member of its family, Pristidae. Found in some area of Australia, this is a predatory fish which feasts on smaller fish and crustaceans. Very little is known about the breeding or birthing of these fish. The greatest threat to these fish is being by-catch in fishing nets.

Answer: False

The Java stingaree is not an anchovy but rather a type of stingray. It is known from the capture of a single female in 1862. While very little is known about this fish it is believed to have small broods when birthing and it is thought to live in a very restricted area around Java.

Answer: Oarfish

Only the whale shark and basking shark are longer than the oarfish, but their skeletons consist of cartilage, not bone. It is possible that the oarfish was responsible for many of the sea monster myths. It is a long silver fish with a red frill that runs the length of its back. It can grow to 11 meters or 36 feet.