Sunday, July 7, 2013

creatures of the sea

Black Scorpionfish are solitary and sedentary fish that feed on small fishes like gobies and blennies. Their spines have a venomous sac so it is good that they are not aggressive fish. They don't migrate from their home base that ranges from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and Black Seas and can blend in with their surroundings with their tassels, warts and coloured specks.

Seahorses have a thin skin stretched over bony plates rather than scales. This particular one, the H. Hippocampus or short-snouted seahorse, is found in the Mediterranean. They live in small territories with the males travelling within 1 sq metre (11 sq ft) and the females ranging beyond to about 100 times farther.








and finally, the Russian sturgeon (sometimes called the Danube sturgeon). It can grow up to over 2.5 metres (8 feet) and weigh 110kg (240lbs) and live to 40 years or more. But it is an endangered species and river damming has decimated the population by as much as 90% in just three generations. The caviar is much sought after and though fishing is now banned it isn't always enforced.

These colourful stamps were issued in 1964 (and represent only 3 of the 9 issued. I didn't want to trail on too long and bore you all, but you can see the entire set here).
You can also see more sea creatures at Sunday Stamps

7 comments:

  1. Not boring at all, Violet. Stamps are little microcosm of what they represent to us. I especially like the hippocampi.

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  2. These stamps are a vintage air I love. I've never seen any of them before.

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  3. Boring - never! Thanks for givinb us the link. I never tire of seahorses.

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  4. Very interesting - amazing what lurks under the water, mainly unseen by us.

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  5. Wow....I enjoyed learning so much and viewing you stamps. How great they are.

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  6. Boy, they have a meme for everything don't they? Cute stamps, and loved your "dry" facts. See, sometimes facts alone are enough to be interesting, especially when combined with lovely images. The "Sunday Stamps" reminded me of when Harry Potter's Uncle is crazed and muttering "no post on Sundays" in The Sorcerer's Stone. My adult daughter and I actually say that a lot when talking about mailing stuff.

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  7. With no post on Sundays we can prep our blog entries. :-)
    thank you for sharing these stamps!!!!

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