Amazing, amusing and inspiring facts about animals

Big fish and small fish

• The world’s smallest fish is Dwarf Pygmy Goby. It measures only 13 mm long. It is also the smallest living animal with a backbone.
• The world’s biggest fish is the whale shark. It grows to an average of 9 m in length. But many have bee known to reach up to 18 m. the whale shark weights an average of 22, 680 kg.
• The world’s fastest fish is the sailfish. It can swim at an average speed of 1109 km per hour. The sailfish got its name from the long, blue dorsal fins on its back.
• The world’s slowest fish is the seahorse. It moves around the ocean at just 0.002 km per hour. Seahorses are able to hover in the water beating their dorsal fins about 35 times per second.
• The world’s longest-lived ocean creature is quahog. It can live for about 200 years. Quahogs are found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Gulf of Mexico.

Other animals

• The world’s largest spider is the goliath birdeater. It can grow to a total length of 28 cm and weight about 170 g. Goliath birdeater are found mostly in the rainforest of Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela.
• The world’s longest insect is the stick insect. It can grow to more than 56 cm in length. Stick insects are found in the forest of Indonesia. They have the ability to grow back a leg or antenna that have broken off.
• The world’s smallest mammal is Kitti’s Hog-nosed bat. It measures about 2.5 cm and weighs just 7g.
• The world’s largest rodent is the Capybara. It reaches an average length of 1.2 m and weighs up to 68 kg. Capybaras are found in central and south America.
• The world’s deadliest snake is the black mamba. This Africa snake releases venom powerful enough to kill up to 200 humans in just one bite.

*The world’s deadliest amphibian is the poison dart frog. It is called arrow poison frog. This amphibian has enough poison in its skin to kill up to 20 adult humans. Poison drat frogs are found in the Central and South America.