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Sea Facts and Trivia

This page is a new addition to Touchthesea.org and will contain various facts about the ocean as well as some trivia. First up, all the foreign words you would ever want to know!

Sea life over Seas

Spanish (Sp), Chinese (Ch), French (Fr), German (Gr), Norwegian (Nor), Russian (Ru), Portuguese (Po), Japanese (Ja), Italian (It), Greek (Gk), Hebrew (He), Yiddish (Yid)

Fish - Pescado (Sp) (As food), Pez (Sp) (Alive), Yu (Ch), Poisson (Fr), Fisch (Gr), zivs (latvian), ryba (polish), Fisk(Nor)

Crab - Cangrejo (Sp), Granchio (It), Jaiba (sp), Krab (yid), Portáin (Irish), krabis (latvian), Krabbe (Nor)

Snail - Caracol (Sp), Schnecke (Gr), Snegle (Nor)

Sea Horse - Caballo de Mar (Sp), jūras zirgs (latvian), Sjøhest / Havhest (Nor)

Ocean - Mar (Sp), Ozean (Gr), Meer (Gr), Okeāns (latvian), океан (ru), ocean (polish), Sjø / Hav (Nor)

Wave - Ola (Sp), vilnis (latvian), fala (polish), Bølge (Nor)

Flounder - Lenguado (Sp), flet (Fr), Flunder (Ger), platija (Sp), Flyndre (Nor)

Whale - Ballena (Sp), Кит (Ru), WALFISCH (Yid), ÍæÊ (Arabic), valis (latvian), wieloryb (polish), Hval (Nor)

Clam - Macha (Sp), Almeja (Sp), Palourde (Fr), Venusmuschel (Gr)

Mussel - Mejillone (Sp), Musling (Nor)

Conch - Concha (Sp), Konkylie (Nor)

Sea Anemone - Piuuri? (Sp), Anémona de mar (Sp), Sjøanemone (Nor)

Sea Urchin - Erizo de mar (Sp), uni (Jap), Kråkebolle (Nor)

Sea Star - Astrella de Mar (Sp), étoile f de mer (Fr), Seestern (Gr), Pe'a (Hawaiian), pe'ape'a (Hawaiian), estrela do mar(Port.), – jūras zvaigzne (latvian), gwiazda morska (polish), Sjøstjerne (Nor)

Sun Star - Sol de Mar (Sp), Solstjerne (Nor)

Brittle Star - Hårstjerne (Nor)

Puffer Fish - Pez Globo (Sp), Fugu (Jp), Kulefisk (Or "Blåsefisk" like blowfish) (Nor)

Shark - Tibaron (Sp), Requin (Fr), Hai(fisch) (Gr), Mano (Hawaiian), Squalo (It), Tubarão (Port), Акула (Rus), haizivs (latvian), rekin (polish), Hai (Nor)

Stingray - Raya (Sp), tipo de peixe (Port.), pastinaca (Sp), pastenague(Fr), Pilskate / pilrokke (Nor)

Hermit Crab - Cangrejo emerito (Sp), Eremitt krabbe (Nor)

Jellyfish - Medusa (Sp), Aguamala (Sp), Aguaviva (Sp), Méduse (Fr), Qualle (Gr), Medusa (It), Manet (Nor), Yavuyavu (Swahili), medūza (latvian)

Shrimp - Gamba (Sp), crevette grise (Fr), Garnele (Gr), gamberetto (It), camarón (Sp), Reke (Nor)

Lobster - Langosta (Sp), Gliomaigh (Irish), Hummer (Nor)

Sea Gull - Gaviota (Sp), Måke (Nor)

Oyster - Oisrí (Irish), Ostra (Sp), austere (latvian), устрица (ru), Østers (Nor)

Help us find the foreign words - if you know the word in another language, e-mail it to us and we will post it! We looked up most of these at http://www.foreignword.com/Tools/dictsrch.htm

E-mail us.

Thanks to Inese Sulzanoka for supplying words in Russian, Latvian, and Polish!
Thanks to Kristin H. Tungland of Norway for the Norwegian translations!

Numbers of Life

When it comes to life on our planet, we are still learning and discovering. Try these numbers on for size!

Biologists have discovered and named over 1.5 million animals but estimates are that there may be as many as 15 million more to name!

By far, the largest group of animals are the insects with over 1 million named.

Snails run second with over 60,000.

Here is a quick break-down of the animal kingdom:

Arthropods (Jointed Legged Animals) - Over 1,500,000

Crustaceans

Crabs ~10,000

Shrimp

Barnacles ~1000

Lobsters

Arachnids

Spiders

Ticks

Mites

Scorpions

Horseshoe Crabs - 4 species

Insects - Well over 1,000,000, some say as many as 25,000,000!!!!!

Beetles

True Bugs

Butterflies

Flies

Ants

Chordates (Animals with a Notochord - nearly all are vertebrates) ~40,000

       Fishes ~30,000
             Lamprys ~35
             Hagfishes ~20

Sharks ~450

             Rays and Skates ~300
             Bony Fish ~25,000
                   Gobies
                   Flying Fish
                   Barracudas
                   Parrot Fish
                   Surgeon Fish
                   Flounders
                   Soles
                   Eels
                   Scorpion Fish
                   Toad Fish

Birds ~9,026

             Quails, Partridges - 165
             Hawks, Eagles - 208
             Owls - 134
             Song Birds -
             Parrots - 317
             Cuckoos - 128
             Larks - 75
             Swallows - 75
             Swifts - 79
             Crows - 100
             Titmice - 64
             Nuthatches - 31
             Wrens - 63
             Gnatcatchers - 332
             Bulbuls - 119
             Mockingbirds - 30
             Thrushes - 304

Reptiles ~7,000

Snakes - 2,300
Sea Snakes - 70

Lizards - 2,750
Turtles ~250

Sea Turtles - 8

Green (Chelonia mydas)

Black (Chelonia agassizii)

Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)

                         Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)
                       Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea)
                         Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea)
                         Loggerhead (Caretta caretta)
                         Flatback (Natator depressus)
             Crocodilians ~21
             Amphisbaenians ~150

       Amphibians ~2,500
             Frogs and Toads ~3700
             Salamanders and Newts ~380
             Caecilian -1

Mammals ~4,060

Bats - ~950

Marsupials ~250

Primates ~195

Whales - 79

Toothed Whales - 68

Sperm Whales - 3

Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus)

Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia simus)

Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia brevicep)

Dolphins - 40

Orca/Killer Whale

Bottlenose Dolphin

Spotted Dolphin

                                  Spinner Dolphin
                                  Common Dolphin
                                  Dusky Dolphin
                                  Pilot Whale - 2
                                         Long-fin Pilot Whale
                                         Short-fin Pilot Whale
                                     Irrawaddy Dolphin
                                     Fraser's Dolphin
                                     Risso's Dolphin
                                     Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)

Porpoises - 6

                                     Harbor Porpoise(Phocoena phocoena)
                                     Dall's Porpoise(Phocoenoides dalli)
                                     Vaquita (Phocoena sinus)
                                     Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides)
                                     Spectacled Porpoise(Australophocaena dioptrica)
                                     Burmeister's Porpoise(Phocoena spinnipinnis)

Narwhal and Beluga
Beaked Whales - 12 +

Longman's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon pacificus)

Blainville's Beaked Whale
Strap-Toothed Whale
Sowerby's Beaked Whale
Andrews' Beaked Whale
Stejneger's Beaked Whale
Hubbs' Beaked Whale
Gray's Beaked Whale
Ginkgo-Toothed Beaked Whale
Gervais' Beaked Whale
True's Beaked Whale
Hector's Beaked Whale

Baleen Whales - 11

Blue Whale

Humpback

Bowhead

Right

                              Fin or Finback
                               Gray Whale
                               Minke Whale
                               Bryde's Whale
                               Sei Whale

Seals, Sea Lions - 32 & Walrus - 1

Egg Laying Mammals - 3

Spiny Anteaters - 2

Platypus - 1

Manatees - 3 & Dugong - 1
West Indian Manatee

West African Manatee

                    Amazonian Manatee
                      Dugong
             Elephants
             Cats
             Canines
             Rodents
             Antelope
             Skunks
             Moles and Voles

Molluscs (Animals with a mantle) ~80,000

Snails ~60,000

         Bivalves (two-shelled animals) ~15,000
          Chitons ~500
         Tusk Shells ~350

Cephalopods (octopuses, squids, etc.) ~800

Echinoderms (Spiny Skinned Animals) ~6000

Sea Stars ~1,500

       Brittle Stars and Basket Stars ~2000
       Sea Cucumbers ~900
       Sea Urchins and Sand Dollars ~950
       Crinoids ~550

Cnidarians (Stinging Animals) ~9000

True Jellyfish ~250 discovered

Corals ~6,000

Hydroids ~2700

Cubomedusa (box jellies)

Sponges ~5,000

Spongin sponges

Calcium spicules sponges

Spongin and calcium spicules sponges
Comb Jellies
Worms

Most of these numbers are approximates but for some animals we know exactly how many we have discovered. For example, we have only discovered one species of Dugong (a mammal that looks like a manatee but has a tail like a dolphin), while for sharks, estimates range from 375 to 500. Recent analysis of the sharks points to about 450 species, but we do discover new ones on occassion!