Lophius

Lophius

Species File

Name: Lophius

Higer Classification: Goosefish

Rank: Genus

Lower Classification: Lophius americans, Lophius piscatorial

Nickname: Monkfish, Fishing-frogs

Description: 

Lophius have three long filaments sprouting from the middle of its head. For those three long filaments, these are the detached and modified three first spines of the anterior dorsal fin. 

Habit and Range:

The Lophius range extends along the eastern Atlantic, along the Norwegian coast of the south-western Barents Sea, down to the Straits of Gibraltar, It also includes the Mediterranean and Black Sea.it frequents the coastal, deep continental shelf regions, on the sandy or muddy sea bottom, at depths ranging from 20 to 1000 meters.

Role in system:

Lophius are not picky eaters. Lohius eat most fish in their surrounding area: cod, ling, redfish and sometimes krill or barnacles. 

Reason for decline:

The main reason for lophius decline is human over-fishing. It totally affects their food chain within the ecosystem they inhabit. This is reason why it effected their population. 

Cascading effects/Importance

Lophius is important based to the ocean food chain, over-fishing would be really effect marine animals to be extinct, same as video we saw for coral reefs. For exaplame, we might lose control population for cod, ling, redfish because of Lophius disappear.

Current Conservation Effort

Lophius is listed in the UK Biodiversity Grouped Species Action Plan for deep-water fish. The European Union (EU) has regulatory powers over commercial sea fishing for member countries but allows individual nations some flexibility in the application of the EU rules.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lophius

http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/65/7/1272.full

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/5094

Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly

Species File

Name: Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly

Laten Name: Glaucopsyche Lydamus Palosverdesensis

Width: 25~30 cm

Color: Male butterflies have a bright silvery-blue dorsal wings outlined in a narrow line of black.

            Famle butterflies have brownish-gray color. 

Famle butterfly

Habit and Range

Adult butterflies of all silvery blue subspecies are closely associated with their legume larval food plants. Palos Verdes blue butterfly is a coastal sage associated electrotype, originally believed restricted to the milk vetch as foodplants. The vetch was largely confined to the summer fog belt characteristic to the southern exposures of the Palos Verdes peninsula at elevations between 100 and 300 meters.One sad factor is  Palos Verdes blue butterfly adult lifespan is only five days

Role in Ecosystem:

Palos Verdes blue butterfly eat ragweed and rattle-pod nectar. When they are just larvae they eat the leaves and not the nectar.

Reason for Decline

The main reason cause decline for the Palos Verdes blue is it has been habitat destruction due to weeds and rototilling. Also it has negative effects on the essential larval foodplants. In addition, recreational, commercial, or residential development of the Palos Verdes peninsula is also a major concern in preservation of the foodplants.

Current Conservation Effort

Current conservation efforts are supported by the Defense Logistics Agency and the U.S. Navy and implemented by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, The Urban Wildlands Group, and The Butterfly Project led by biologist Jana J. Johnson at Moorpark College. Also there is the Youth Environmental Service program of the Palos Verdes / South Bay Audubon Society and other volunteer groups have provided help weeding and establishing habitat for the butterfly. Also we can see, there are a lot organizations group try to save this beautiful butterfly.

Source:

http://lepidopteraresearchfoundation.org/pdf/pdf31/31-180.pdf

http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/glaucopsyche_lygdamus_palosverdesensis.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palos_Verdes_blue

West African Manatee

Mermaid in Legendary 

Species File

Name: West African Manatee

Laten Name: Trichechus Senegalensis

Higher classification: Manatee

Rank: Species

Weight: 500kg

Length: 3~4 m

Proterozoic: West Africa

Description:

West African manatees are grayish brown in color whereas newborns are born with darker coloration that fades after approximately one month until it is similar to that of an adults. Also the head is broad with a short snout and small eyes with no eyelashes and small ears. In addition, the body of a manatee is seal-shaped and tapering to a flat paddle-shaped tail. Fine colorless hair covers the entire body and there are stout bristles around the mouth. 

Habit and Range

African manatees can be found in much of the western region of Africa such as in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and so on.

The West African manatee Individuals show preference for mangrove habitats and calm water conditions, and it seems to be restricted to water that is 18℃ and over. They can be found in freshwater, brackish or salt water in a number of habitats such as marine coastal areas, lagoons, estuaries and river tributaries.

Reason for Decline

The almost important reason for decline because of illegal hunting is the greatest reason for declines in manatee populations, and local peoples shoot the manatee for food or for their skins, so hunters kill them and sold their meat, fat and skin. Also Fishermen’s nets also pose a threat and habitat destruction is also adversely affecting the numbers of these animals, especially the destruction of mangrove swamps and damming of rivers.

The West African manatee is one of the least understood and least studied marine mammals in the world. It also kept the balance of ecosystem in west Africa.

Current Conservation efforts

Some non-governmental organizations have been instrumental in helping to preserve the manatees by educating local human inhabitants as to the importance of the manatees, maybe this is not enough to save all the west African manatees, but this is good start to stabilize and hopefully increase numbers of West African manatees.

Save the Manatee Club

Save the Manatee Club focuses their efforts on protecting the three species of manatees and their marine habitats through advocacy, public awareness and education, research, rescue and rehabilitation.

Source:

http://africa.wetlands.org/Whatwedo/Biodiversityconservation/WestAfricanmanatee/tabid/2960/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/species/endangered-animals-water/west-african-manatee/

http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=108

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_manatee

https://animalcorner.co.uk/animals/west-african-manatee/

Pygmy Hog

The Smallest Pig

Species File

Name: Pygmy Hog

Higher classification: Pig

Rank: Species

Weight: 14.5 ~ 26 Ibs

Length: 21.7 ~ 28 inch

Height: 7.9 ~ 11.8 inch

Proterozoic: India

Habit and Range

Pygmy hog is confined to the tall grass upland of Manas National Park in Assam with an estimated population of below 250. Also pygmy hog is very sensitive to any change in habitat and they are not made to adapt any changes in their Eco system. The density of their population if around 19 per square kilometer.

Role in Ecosystem

Pygmy hogs forage for a wide variety of foods, eating roots, grasses, fruits, insects and earthworms amongst others.

Reason for decline

The reasons for pygmy hog’s decline because there were largely related to extensive destruction and degradation of grassland habitat due to rapid expansion of human settlements and farming activities. 

It including unsustainable livestock grazing, indiscriminate dry season burning of grass, unsustainable thatch grass and minor forest produce collection, flash floods caused by natural or artificial dams and illegal trapping or snaring for bush meat.

For all of reason we can tell the reason why they decline because of our human. because we don't care enough about human-nature relationship.

Cascading Effects/Importance

Compare to human population, Pygmy Hog population is even less than 1 huge classroom students. Also it is really small, it mean 150 remain pygmy hog together might not big enough to fit in to one normal live-room. Also if Pygmy Hod disappear, it might cost change for nature food chain to change other animals inhabit, to cause more animals exciting.

Current Conservation Effort

Nowadays, pygmy hog is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 in India. Also the international trade is banned by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_hog

http://www.arkive.org/pygmy-hog/porcula-salvania/

http://www.sospecies.org/sos_projects/mammals/pygmyhog/

http://relivearth.com/endangered-species/pygmy-hog/