Tropical Marine Fish Care
Tropical Marine Fish are the fish found in deep seas in the tropical areas on the either side of the Equator. There are thousands of species and sub-species of Tropical Marine Fish ranging from tiny fish measuring in millimeters to giant whale sharks measuring several meters. Each one of them is adapted to life in deep salt waters in its own special way. Tropical Marine Fish face different issues than terrestrial life. In their normal course of life, they deal with issues like salt intake and its regulation, getting oxygen from water, getting enough light and changing pressures and temperatures in the seas.
Lyretail Anthias
Most Tropical Marine Fish can drink seawater. They have special ‘salt-glands’ that filter out excessive salt and lose it in the seawater. All this happens through the gills. Several big Tropical Marine Fish like whales do not drink seawater. They fulfill their need for water by obtaining it from other fish, plants or organisms that they eat.
All Tropical Marine Fish obtain their oxygen from the seawater they live in. Water in constantly filtered by the gills, retaining the oxygen dissolved for breathing. Some species of Tropical Marine Fish can also breathe through skin. Whales are an exception to this. They need to surface at regular intervals to breathe in open air. Whales, however, are not fish technically. They are called fish, but actually are marine mammals and share more characteristics with terrestrial life than their marine counterparts.
Lion Fish
Tropical Marine Fish are cold-blooded (ectothermic) and their body temperatures change with the tropical water temperatures of their surroundings. This gives them the versatility of surviving in a variety of habitats within the seas and in cold sea currents. Tropical Marine Fish are also adapted to withstand different sea pressures. Water pressure increases at a rate of 15psi with every 33 feet of dissent into the sea. While most Tropical Marine Fish do not change depths frequently or suddenly, they do have the right gear to deal with changing pressures in the sea. Some can dive as deep as two miles several times in a single day. A variety of features like streamlined bodies, lungs that withstand great pressure, ribcages that are collapsible and special swimming abilities help Tropical Marine Fish survive with ease in deep seas.
Tropical Marine Fish too for a variety of reasons need light, like any other organism. They need light for generation of vitamins in their skin, for the healthy bacteria and fungi that live on them, and for the growth of marine plants and several other organisms that provide food. However, Tropical Marine Fish that live in deep waters impenetrable to sun rays, have a different use for light altogether. They live in total dark and many of them have lost pigmentation and sight. Some of such fish have developed light producing cell-mechanisms over millions of years of evolution, which they use to attract mates and prey.
Types and species of Tropical Marine Fish number in thousands. Most of them sport bright colors and exotic appearances. Small Tropical Marine Fish like angelfish, bass, butterfly fish, damsels, frogfish, dart fish, etc.
