April 2012 trivia thread

[bigguapote]

Here we are for another not nearly monthly TUIC trivia contest for free fish.
For 50.00 in free TUIC fish, let's see how you do.
Feel free to post comments in this thread, but please forward your answers via PM or email directly to bigguapote1@verizon.net
That way the next reader doesn't get to see the answers you worked to hard to figure out!
I'll take replies until Thursday, April 19th at midnight EST (that's 9 PM for our left coast friends).
Then I'll post the winner(s) answers on Friday here to share with everyone.

Part I of this installment involves a fictitious character who goes by the name of Catfish John. Some of you may recognize this character from a song of the same name in which a formerly enslaved river hobo was featured.

The Catfish John of this tale shall call the shores of Lake Pontchartrain his home. I suppose he’s bored with catching hardhead catfish, sheepshead, drums, and bass. He’s going on a bucket list of a trip around the world to catch – you guessed it: catfish - from all but one continent. By the way, for clarification purposes, he’s after fresh water catfish species.

I’ll provide a general compass direction and the miles between one location to the next. I’ll also offer some latitude/longitude reading for the city he’s arriving at next. Sorry I can’t give you the exact coordinates. That makes sleuth work far too easy!
Your mission is to name the city he’s visiting and also a species of catfish native to the waters of that region that he may catch while fishing.

So Catfish John ‘CJ’ is departing from Louis Armstrong International Airport. You figure it out. His first destination will be in the direction of SSE for 2031 miles. The destination city occurs between 0-5* north latitude, 74* west longitude. I wonder what catfish species is biting there?

From here, CJ is going to continue to fly SSE for 2856 miles to his second destination city located at thirty something degrees south latitude, 58* west longitude. Hope the fishing is good CJ!

Next CJ will be flying due east for 5000 miles to reach his third destination at 20 something degrees south latitude , 28* east longitude. Of course he’s going to be looking to go fishing too.

For his forth destination, CJ is really racking up the frequent flyer miles. He’s headed east for 6900 miles to a city at 30 something degrees south latitude, 151* east longitude. So what kind of catfish might he catch while wetting a line around here?

CJ’s fifth desination will require he travel NW for 5660 miles to 20 something degrees north latitude, 88* east longitude. He’s hurting from jet lag and has completely lost track of the time by now – hell, he doesn’t even trust the time displayed on his cell phone at this stage of the trip. But being the relentless catfisherman that he is, off he goes.

Finally traveling to his last and sixth destination, CJ will be headed NW for 4130 miles to a city at forty something degrees north latitude, 19* east longitude. He doesn’t understand a word the folks in these parts speak, but he can find a water hole just fine.


Part II
The intrepid Catfish John skipped one continent on his catfishing travels because there are no native catfish to be found there. However, there is a family of totally remarkable fish found in these waters. A feature of their physiology is unlike that of any other vertebrate in the world.
Given only the above clues, who can name this family of fish (family name, common name - either will do fine)?
What trait is so unique about their physiology AND why the extreme deviation from all other fish species known?
Please also attach a photo or link to photo of a species from this bizarre family of fish.

Part III
Spring has sprung and many of us are admiring spring blooms among the flowers, shrubs, and trees. I wonder if some of the readers are tree savvy. In other words, can you identify the trees seen in the following photos? Latin name or common names – either is perfectly acceptable.
There are 10 different trees for you to try and identify below. On some examples, I've included a close up of the flower or leaves to hopefully make identification more conclusive.

tree #1






tree #2




tree #3





tree #4






tree #5






tree #6






tree #7




tree #8




tree #9






tree #10






tree #11




Yes, that was my Christmas tree from several years ago that we cut down and threw onto my car. I did have to cut it back some - down to about 17'.



Part IV
Well there's got to be some fish identification too.
Below are some recently taken photos. Can you name the fish?

1 fish




2 fish




3 fish




4 fish




5 fish




6 fish



The fish and the dude with the ray halo as well please!

 

[kevinfleming21]

I only care to answer the last one LOL. Mo Devlin with Giant Mekong Ray pictured behind

 

[bigguapote]

I only care to answer the last one LOL. Mo Devlin with Giant Mekong Ray pictured behind

It's a classic photo!

 

[ryansmith83]

There's no telling how badly I messed up the first part of the trivia challenge but I submitted my answers anyway. Good luck, everyone!

 

[bigguapote]

We have an all out winner of this last installment of trivia. Congratulations Ryan!
Actually timing, specific knowledge, and specific interests all came together for Ryan.
He informed me that he'd grown up in a family where plants and trees were their business.

He's inquired sporadically of a particular species of S. Am. cichlid for, I don't know, years I think.
I do believe that he must have been due/earned good karma to come his way.
The species of fish he's been after, Heroina isonycterina, was finally imported from the wild last week after some 25+ years of my being involved in direct S. Am. imports.


Please find Ryan's answers below:

Part I

By the way, Catfish John flew out of New Orleans and traveled to the below cities where he may have had the good fortune of catching any of the very interesting species of catfish correctly provided.

Destination 1- Bogota, Colombia - Eremophilus mutisii
Bogota @ 4*N, 74*W

Destination 2- Buenos Aires, Argentina - Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum
Buenos Aires @ 34*S, 58*W

Destination 3- Pretoria, South Africa - Austroglanis sclateri
Pretoria @ 25*S, 28*E
I was thinking Johannesburg, SA, but Ryan's answer is also correct. The two cities are about 50 miles apart and certainly both within the approximate coordinates I'd provided.

Destination 4- Sydney, Australia - Tandanus tandanus
Sydney @ 34*S, 151*E

Destination 5- Kolkata, West Bengal, India - Sperata aor
Kolkata (many of us know it as Calcutta) @ 22*N, 88*E

Destination 6- Budapest, Hungary - Silurus glanis
Budapest @ 47*N, 19*E

Part II

The only continent with no catfish species is Antarctica. The family of fish found there are the Notothenioids, unique because they produce a protein in their blood that acts as anti-freeze and keeps ice crystals from growing large enough in their bloodstream to freeze them. Here's a picture of Notothenia angustata:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86445296@N00/4896913502/

Thanks to the recent Frozen Planet series, that was actually an easy one!

This is a seriously cold adapted family of fish indeed! They are known as 'ice fish' and have adapted to live in ocean water around 0*C. Their blood is white-clear (they lack red blood cells), they lack a swim bladder, and amazingly produce a natural 'antifreeze' by which their blood may circulate in a freezing environment. Crazy stuff!

Part III

Tree 1- Quaking Aspen, Populus tremuloides

Tree 2- Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica (our yard is full of them!)

Tree 3- Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides

Tree 4- Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica
also known as tupelo tree for anyone interested

Tree 5- I know it's a Magnolia tree, but I have no idea which species

Tree 6- Smoke Tree, Cotinus coggygria

Tree 7- Live Oak, Quercus virginiana

Tree 8- Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum

Tree 9- Cryptomeria
also known as 'sekkans' in trade

Tree 10- Mimosa Tree

the 11th tree pictured is a cedar. That was the first and last cedar I ever brought into the house as a fresh cut Christmas tree.
The water weight in the freshly cut trunk made that tree staggeringly heavy. Once cut back some and righted, the tree did fill the house with a really wonderful cedar aroma.

Part IV

Fish 1- Andinoacara biseriatus

Fish 2- Geophagus crassilabris?
yep

Fish 3- At first I thought severum, then I thought Tilapia joka, but now I have no idea. Some sort of tilapia juvenile?
Tilapia marie - just a small one at around 2.5". Sorry that was kind of tricky

Fish 4- Spotted Gudgeon?
Ophieleotris aporos 'snakehead gudgeon'. Again, not an adult yet, so another tricky one

Fish 5- Bowfin, Amia calva
That's 'Bobo'. He lives in my home 320 gal tank. Mo took his photo last week right when Bobo was snapping up a massivore pellet.

Fish 6- Mo (Aquamojo) with a Giant Mekong Ray, Himantura chaophraya
Those two hams worked well together. Mo with a ray halo


Thanks again to everyone who took the time to read through the thread and send in replies. I hope you had some fun with it.
Congrats again to Ryan for an outstanding job. I hope you enjoy the Heroina - now with a little discount to offset purchase price!

 

[ryansmith83]

Woohoo! I have to admit, the first part of the contest was really fun (even though it took a while). I got to play around with Google Earth for the first time. It's pretty amazing what you can do with it. I lucked out on the horticultural aspect of the contest. Can't wait to get my Heroina!

 

[orinocensis1]

Great job Ryan! Thats great that you won and he got your dream fish in! thats great karma. enjoy your fish when you get them!