There is a bit of a fishy tale about the theme of undersea life this week. I had used all my undersea creatures before so I had to trawl the world for my stamps this week starting with the National Fish of South Africa.
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| South Africa - Coracinus capensis |
The Galjeon inhabits South Africa's coastal waters, confined mostly to the shallows. Its colour varies depending where it lives - almost black in rocky areas and silver bronze where it's sandy. KwaZula-Natal knows it as the black fish or black bream; elsewhere it is called the Damba, much easier to say than coracinus capensis
It may seem strange to include a stamp from a landlocked country like Hungary especially as Xiphophorus Helleri is part of their tropical fish series issued in 1962.
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| Hungary - Xiphophorus Helleri |
The green swordfish (Xi-H) is a freshwater/brackish water fish. Where it has been introduced elsewhere in the world it has become a nuisance pest. Significant numbers exist along the east coast of Australia.
'Wars' have been fought over fish, the Cod Wars between Iceland and the United Kingdom in the 1950s and 1970s being well known disputes over fishing rights. It's not surprising to find that fish are featured on Icelandic stamps.
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| Iceland - Salmon (I think) |
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| Iceland - Haddock and Cod |
Britain would be at a loss with a supply of melanogrammus aeglefinnus (Haddock) and gadus morhua (Cod) to go with their chips.
These days though fission chips may be found subsea.
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| Great Britain - Nuclear Submarine |
