Hello Folks! It's time to go underwater and explore the wonderful world of UK fish. Some are spotty, some have stripes. Some prefer lakes, others prefer streams. Prepare to get your feet wet and get your fins in a flap!Each Monday for 12 weeks I will be posting a little teaser for you. Without looking in books or on the internet (i.e - no cheating), see if you can identify the UK fish On Wednesday, so as long as no-one has guessed it, I will post one clue. On Friday I will post the answer along with some additional information for your interest.MYSTERY FISH QUIZ #1Clue: The patience scale.
Thanks, thinking cap back on.
Regards Shane
My Photos in Flickr.
I'm still thrown out by the first clue, so I am changing my guess now to Tench as its latin name is Tinca Tinca, a play on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor?
As Tench are also known as the Doctor Fish because of the supposed healing properties of its body slime, this was my thought on the first clue then I realised it said patience and not patient must get to Specsavers !!!
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Cheers Pete for that info, i remember that old wife's tale about the slime from my younger years but didn't know they were called Doctor Fish. A Green Slimy Doctor, that doesn't bear thinking about, and I'm still confused with the first clue.
I'll try Common Bream.
Its a day early I know, but I am on leave tomorrow gutting my kitchen.... Congratulations to all of you who guessed Tench (Tinca tinca). First, a bit about the clues: The patience scale. Tench are also known as ‘Doctor’ fish. Fish have scales and Doctors have patients (patience). Tench have small scales which are embedded into their thick skin, which makes them very slimy and slippery to handle. Folklore has it, that if a sick fish was to rub against a Tench it would be cured of its ailment – hence the Doctor fish!
The second clue: No room for a soldier or sailor.... The first two lines of the nursery rhyme ‘Tinker, tailor’ include the words ‘Tinker tailor, soldier, sailor...’. The latin name for the Tench is Tinca tinca (Tinker being a play on tinca). As it features twice, there is no room for the soldier or the sailor, or the tailor for that matter!
Belonging to the Cyprinidae family, Tench are stocky carp-like shape fish with olive green skin, which is darker above and more golden below. Tench have reddy-orange eyes and small barbells next to their narrow mouth. Tench feed at night and are partial to aquatic animals such as snails and pea-clams. Tench tend to breed in shallow water amongst aquatic plants.
A picture of a Tench is found here.
Did you know that: Male tench are smaller than females.
Keep an eye out for next week’s fish quiz!
Take care,
Claire
Should have followed Shane's lead instead of trying to be clever (again!!)
damn I'm too late..... I will have to be quicker next time :)
kind regards the little robin (gayle)