In the modern world, homo sapiens is the dominant predator on the entire planet. But it is worth recognizing that humanity has risen to this degree quite recently and holds the palm for a very short time. An individual who was able to protect himself from the surrounding "enemy" world appeared only 2 million years ago. But on the planet there are many prehistoric representatives of flora and fauna, whose ancestors saw the world before the existence of dinosaurs.
Sturgeon
Their image is present on the arms of some countries, they are revered - it's all about fish from the sturgeon genus. Caviar of this species is appreciated all over the world. But few people know that this is a real prehistoric fish.
Scientists are sure that the first representative of the sturgeon genus appeared on the planet another 170 million years ago. This time is called the Jurassic period. Although the heyday of the species came at a later date - the Cretaceous period. It is believed that it was then that the largest individuals lived, which reached 7-8 meters in length. This is confirmed by the found remains in the Volgograd region of Russia.
Several types of fish are referred to the sturgeon genus: beluga, sterlet and others. The largest individual was caught in 1940, its length was 576 centimeters. It was a beluga. Today, such a large size no one else could find a fish.
Atractosteus spatula
In fact, no matter how you write the name of this fish, for the inhabitants of our continent it will not say anything. The Mississippi carapace is an inhabitant of the waters of Central and North America. He lives in the coastal zone, and this creature is also called alligator fish. However, it lives in fresh water and very rarely can enter the waters of the Caribbean Islands and Cuba.
The creature is assigned to the order of armored pike and is the largest representative of the species. A distinctive feature is the ability to breathe air, albeit for a short time.
By the way, often this fish is mistaken for a crocodile. It has something like a long “beak” with many large needle-like teeth. The body of the fish is covered with diamond-shaped scales, which forms armor. It is believed that over the entire existence of this species, and this is about 150 million years old, it has not changed at all externally.
Alepisaurus
This Latin name is translated as “Alepisaurus” and defines the type of fish that are assigned to the genus Alepisaurus and are considered a cross between a slave-sailing vessel and a dagger.
For the first time this inhabitants of the waters saw the expedition to Kamchatka (1741). At that time, no descriptions were made, only the fact of the presence of a unique inhabitant of the ocean was recorded.
After several decades, it was possible to find out that the alepizaur fish is presented in two forms. One, called "ordinary", is found in the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and the other - "short-winged" - prefers cool waters. Fish can be found on the coast of the north-west of the Atlantic, during the Gulf Stream.
Cystepera fish coelacanth
This fish is also called coelicant. In 1938, an unprecedented large individual was discovered and caught in the waters of the Indian Ocean, which was delivered to the East London Museum. Area - the water area of the Comoros, the coast of Indonesia, Madagascar, southern Mozambique.
Scientists suggest that today there are no more than 200 individuals of this species of fish. Their meat is inedible, but still there are many who want to catch it and make a scarecrow, so the fish is protected.
The celicant is a predator and leads a nocturnal lifestyle. These are very slow creatures and for hunting descend to a depth of 700 meters. The largest individual that was found was 108 centimeters long and weighed 95 kg.
Dragon of african waters
Senegalese multi-feather is the oldest creature on the planet, often confused with eel, but it belongs to a completely different species. The dorsal fin of the fish is divided and is very similar to a saw.
Habitat - water bodies of India and Africa with slowly flowing water and dense thickets of plants. The fish is a predator and grows up to 50 centimeters in length. Mnogoperas are even kept in aquariums, where they do not reach more than 30 cm, but can live for about 30 years.
An amazing feature of the fish is that its swimming bladder is light, which allows it to breathe oxygen. Under natural conditions, a creature can even live for some time without water.
Mixins
It is believed that this prehistoric fish appeared on the planet 300 million years ago. It lives at great depths in tropical waters. An amazing feature of the creature is that it can easily tie into a knot. And this is done in order to break its prey.
Mixins are very hardy and can even survive a shark bite. In the common sense, they are not much like fish. They have cartilage instead of bones, and a skeletal shaft instead of the spine. The creature's body is covered with fibrous mucus.
Aravana
Another prehistoric fish that has survived to our times from the Jurassic period and has not changed much. The creature lives in the fresh waters of Australia, Asia and Africa. This is a real predator that can even jump 2 meters from the water and catch a small bird.
Aravana is often kept in large aquariums. In the wild, the creature grows up to 90 centimeters in length, very rarely up to 1.2 meters. The average weight is 4.6 kg. It has a ribbon-like body structure with silver-colored scales.
