FISH! FISH! FISH! (In France)

WHAT'S THIS????

SO MANY FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the high points of our visit to Versailles was the surprising appearance of a swarm of voracious fish. They lived at Marie Antoinette's Hamlet and were content to go into a feeding frenzy at the slightest provocation from any visiting tour group. In the video below, please note the young Europeans boys screaming "Mama Mia!" Also notice the one super huge fish that surfaces for a split second. What the heck is up that that monster fish?!?!?!?!?

When I was in second or third grade, our class was brought to a trout farm somewhere in Massachusetts. The trout were so thick in those man made streams that I remember trying to sleep the night after our visit, and only seeing writhing pools of fish when I closed my eyes. This visit in France transported me again to that childhood moment.

Bass Master

During my trip to East Texas last weekend I finally met a real live BASS MASTER. While I was target practicing with a 12 gauge shotgun next to the pond, this guy fished out this large mouth bass. Notice the mouth and you'll see where this bass got its name. Definitely a change from the last Fish Master post I put up on this blog.Unfortunately for us, a calf had just drowned in the pond and we were concerned that it's putrefying body might have poisoned the local fish, so we threw this Large Mouth back, rather than risk eating him. There's always next time!

Sometimes

Sometimes I had to go to restaurants just to see them.

WTF Shed Aquarium Edition

I suppose I could have looked at the sign in front of these fish things, but I didn't. They look a bit like a cross between an anime cartoon, a lizard a fish and an eel. Anybody what to through a little help my way. What are these creatures?

Wow, That Looks Fun!

These dudes were totally soaring. It reminds me of a book I read when I was a kid "The Black Pearl." I think there were some kinds of rays in that one.

Bad Photos, Bad Fish

I couldn't get very good shots of the invasive Asian Snakehead fish because it would not stop moving! This fish was brought to North America from Asia as food but has escaped into the wild. It is voracious. This is from a 2004 Washington Post article:

If it is released in a pond or lake in this area, experts say, the snakehead is instantly at the top of the food chain: It can grow as large as 47 inches long and weigh 15 pounds. The fish can clean out a pond of native fish, officials said, and it also eats insects -- probably including this year's expected bumper crop of cicadas.

The most frightening thing about the Asian Snakehead? It can survive out of water, slithering from one lake to the next in its unstoppable march across this fair continent!!!!

Mirror Fish

It would be confusing to be these fish. No?

Moray Eel

This beefy chap was the star of the party at the Aquarium. I had to muscle my way past a bunch of Japanese tourists just to take a picture of him. Mostly he just waved around in the current, with his head sticking out of his cave/home. I thought his teeth would be more fierce looking.

UPDATE: Now that it's not as provocative to say, I think he looks like Eliot Spitzer.

The Least Scary Fish Ever

One thing thats really strange about some fishe is how scary they can be. Fortunately, many of them are beautiful and totally not-scary. This fish, for example, comes from Australia and is fundamentally cute and generally unscary.

A dream about swimming in the ocean at night and meeting up with this fish? I call that a good dream!

Fish Lips

Kiss Me!

Anime

This anime goldfish creature belongs to my old friends Dan and Ellen. Happy voting!

Contemporary Art

A while ago I went to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art to see a show on "rock and roll art." It was a confused exhibit, basically featuring any form of visual or video composition inspired by or related to rock bands. The only thing that many of the pieces had in common was the pervasive and sickly feel of celebrity worship and the assertion that rock and roll is really really cool. No shit.

So imagine my pleasure when I walked down to the basement level of th museum and saw that they had a FISH POND RIGHT INSIDE THE MUSEUM. This wavy carp was probably the most thought provoking work on display.

Symbiosis

This fish has a strange home. He lives in the mouth of the sea scallop pictured bellow, eating debris and keeping the scallops innards clean. At least thats what I've been told.

The Unfortunate Skate

Welcome to another edition of Creatures from the Deep: CAPE COD! Here is the prehistoric looking skate from another perspective. A skate is actually quite a prickly fellow so I chose to wear protective gloves when I was handling them. They don't have poison in their spines, but they are likely to cause infections if they cut your hands.

P.S. It has been brought to my attention that Ben Fausto is an occasional visitor to my Blog. "HI BUDDY!"

Trout Master

Here is a picture of a trout I pulled out of a Lake in Western Mass a few years ago. In retrospect, I have to wonder if I shouldn't have thrown the little guy back. But, as you can tell, I had quite an appetite back then. It was tasty!

Bored Fish

Because they can't all be as exciting as "Spider Eating the Hell out of a Butterfly."

A blog like this is kind of like a mix tape. Some pics are absolute winners, others are enough to tide you over. If they were all super dramatic you wouldn't appreciate it as much. So here are these fish....
These fish seemed kind of like a bored old married couple. They were very comfortable, but it seemed like a spark was missing from their lives. I recommend that they try new things to keep life fresh. Salsa classes, travel, maybe start drinking more heavily.

Creatures from the Deep (Part I of a Series)

These catfish live in the big Asian market in North Austin. When you buy one the men who work there hit it on the head with a rubber mallet. All-in-all a pretty quick and humane end. I've always contended that catfish are delicious. My friend Karl in Winnipeg has said they have worms. Anyvbody know anything about that?

Catfish Atttack! (Creatures from the Deep Part II)

These fish were huge. Basically they were man-eaters. Check out cool shots of people that catch these fish with there hands here.

Live Tilapia (Creatures from the Deep Part III)

They were selling live Tilapia as well. Tilapia seems to be a pretty popular fish these days. In Austin people eat them in fish tacos. The Tilapia is a very lazy fish. This one was sleeping.