Ten Water & Air Animals with Three Letter Names Quiz

Answer: ahi

In Hawaiian, ahi refers to both the yellowfin tuna and the related bigeye tuna.

Yellowfin tuna is sold in two grades - "sashimi" and "other".

Yellowfin tuna is on the Greenpeace Redlist of fish to avoid because of overfishing and bycatch (other non-tuna species being caught during tuna fishing).

The cryptic clue refers to the first letters of "aloha! Hawaii is" spelling "ahi".

Answer: bat

Bats are divided into two sub-orders: the Megachiroptera (megabats) and the Microchiroptera (microbats/echolocating bats). Despite the terms, the division is based on anatomical differences, not size. Megabats are herbivores and most do not use echolocation.

Bruce Wayne is the alter ego of the fictional superhero Batman (DC Comics), who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (1939).

Answer: bee

Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) first appeared in 1887. In the short story "His Last Bow" (1917), Holmes has retired from detective work and taken up beekeeping (apiculture). Holmes has even written a book about beekeeping.

Bumblebee nests only last for a single season, with the queen hibernating in the winter, emerging in spring to start a new hive, and all of the other bees dying off in the autumn as the queen hibernates again. Honeybees, however, remain active in winter, surviving on stored honey and forming a cluster to keep themselves and their queen warm.

An alternative definition of "bee" is a gathering of people for a purpose, such as work or competition. Examples include a quilting bee or a spelling bee.

Answer: cod

While cod is a common name for several species of fish, the main species of cod are the Atlantic cod and the Pacific cod.

Cod liver oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), vitamin A and vitamin D.

"Cash on delivery" (COD, or "collect on delivery") is a method of purchase where payment is made when the items are delivered, instead of at the time of ordering.

Answer: eel

The electric eel isn't a true eel at all. It is a knifefish, and is related to carp and catfish.

After hatching, the transparent larvae will become glass eels, then elvers (which migrate inland via fresh water), then yellow eels and finally silver eels (which go back to the ocean to spawn and start the process over). Due to the varied forms, many of which are small and transparent, and the large migratory area, much of the eel's life cycle is not completely understood.

Answer: fly

Flies have no teeth and cannot eat solid food. They exist on a diet of liquids or pollen-sized grains.

The 1958 film "The Fly" was based on a 1957 short story of the same name by George Langelaan that first appeared in Playboy magazine. Vincent Price plays the scientist's brother. After the lab accident in both the story and the 1957 film, there is an immediate switch: the scientist ends up with the head and arm of the fly, while the fly ends up with the head and arm of the man.

The 1986 film stars Jeff Goldblum and features a much slower and gradual transformation into a complete fly-creature. The tagline of the film was "Be afraid. Be very afraid." This tagline has made its way into pop-culture.

Answer: koi

"Koi" is the Japanese word for carp. The Japanese term for what English-speakers call "koi" is "nishikigoi".

One of the words used in Japanese for love is also pronounced "koi," and as a result, the koi has become a symbol for love and affection in Japanese culture.

Koi have been selectively bred for thousands of years to develop the over 20 different color patterns. However, these colors soon disappear if the koi breed with "normal" carp. Worldwide interest in koi first began in 1914, when the decorative fish were exhibited in Tokyo.

Answer: jay

Jays are passerine birds. A major characteristic of passerine birds is that they are anisodactyl: their feet have three toes forwards and one backwards, which make perching easier.

The Toronto Blue Jays were formed in 1977. Based in Toronto, Canada, the Blue Jays were the first non-US team to win the World Series, doing so in 1992 and 1993.

Answer: owl

There are two families of owls: Strigidae (true or typical owls) and Tytonidae (barn owls, which have a heart-shaped face and other skeletal differences).

In 1969, an animated commercial asked "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" The original 60-second commercial involves a boy asking Mr. Cow, Mr. Fox, Mr. Turtle, and finally Mr. Owl. Shorter versions eliminate the animals at the beginning. When Mr. Owl tries to find out the answer to the question, he only manages three licks before biting into the candy. While many scientific (and non-scientific) studies have tried to answer the question, the results vary widely, from ~100 to almost 3,500 licks.

Answer: ray

Rays are closely related to sharks. Both have cartilaginous skeletons, for example.

Steven Irwin (1962-2006) was best known as "The Crocodile Hunter," was a wildlife expert and television host. While filming "Ocean's Deadliest", he was killed by an 8-foot wide stingray.