The Tuki Matsuri essays

The Tuki Matsuri essays What in the world could make the population of one city double in just one week, you ask? Well, not only does this unique festival attract so many people but it is one of the few places around the world where warm and cheerful celebrations are taking place, in the beginning of February. The Yuki Matsuri can be found right in the center of Sapporo, Japan. Laughing, playing, drinking, fine dining, and none other than snow and ice sculptures are all part of this festival. These and other traditions light up the faces of those in Japan and also from other cultures around the world. Japanese festivals are a wonderful sight to see, but the Yuki Matsuri exceeds the excellence of most other festivals. Not only does this special snow celebration attract thousands from Japan, but the festival has an accumulative estimate of two million others, annually. This one-of-a-kind event is said to be enjoyed by Japan residents and those flocking to Japan from all around the world. The history of this celebration is a magnificent story. The festival originated in the winter of 1950, when six small snow statues were created by high-school children in Odori-koen, the citys park main park. (The Yuki Matsuri Sapporo tourist info.). Eventually, the idea caught on and, by 1955, the Japanese army, known as the Self Defense Force (SDF), was pitching in to help build the gigantic snow sculptures. (The Yuki Matsuri Sapporo Tourist Info.). The SDF even created a life-size replica of the Taj Mahal. Ever since then, the fiesta has typically been held on the fifth to the eleventh of February every year. It has been a tradition in Japan, but is also starting to lose its status with the Japanese population. After fifty-five years of snow and ice sculptures and other common events taking place at the Yuki Matsuri, the people of Japan claimed they no longer visited the snow festival, and it ha...

Facts About the Longsnout or Slender Seahorse

Facts About the Longsnout or Slender Seahorse The longsnout seahorse (Hippocampus  reidi) is also known as the slender seahorse or  Brazilian seahorse. Description As you could guess, longsnout seahorses have a long snout. They have a slender body that can grow up to about 7 inches in length. On top of their head is a coronet that is low and convoluted. These seahorses may have brown and white dots over their skin, which is a variety of colors, including black, yellow, red-orange, or brown. They may also have a pale saddle coloration over their dorsal surface (back). Their skin stretches over bony rings visible on their body. They have 11 rings on their trunk and 31-39 rings on their tail. Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ActinopterygiiOrder: GasterosteiformesFamily: SyngnathidaeGenus: HippocampusSpecies:  reidi Habitat and Distribution Longsnout seahorses are found in the western North Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Brazil. They are also found in the Caribbean Sea and Bermuda. They are found in relatively shallow water (0 to 180 feet) and are often attached to seagrasses, mangroves, and gorgonians or  among floating Sargassum, oysters, sponges, or man-made structures. Females are thought to range farther than males, possibly because males have a brood pouch which decreases their mobility. Feeding Longsnout seahorses eat small crustaceans, plankton, and plants using their long snout with a pipette-like motion  to suck in their food as it passes by. These animals feed during the day and rest at night by attaching to structures in the water such as mangroves or seagrasses. Reproduction Longsnout seahorses are sexually mature when they are about 3 inches long. Like other seahorses, they are ovoviviparous. This seahorse species mates for life. Seahorses have a dramatic courtship ritual in which the male may change color and inflate his pouch and the male and female perform  a dance around each other. Once courtship is complete, the female deposits her eggs in the males brood pouch, where they are fertilized.  There are up to 1,600 eggs that are about 1.2mm (.05 inches) in diameter. It takes about 2 weesk for the eggs to hatch, when seahorses about 5.14 mm (.2 inches) are born. These babies look like miniature versions of their parents. The lifespan of longsnout seahorses is thought to be 1-4 years. Conservation and Human Uses The global population of the species is listed as  near-threatened  on the  IUCN Red List  as of an October 2016 assessment. One threat to this seahorse is harvest for use in aquariums, as souveniers, as medicinal remedies, and for religious purposes. They also are caught as bycatch in shrimp fisheries in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America and are threatened by habitat degradation. The genus Hippocampus, which includes this species, was listed in CITES Appendix II, which prohibts export of seahorses from Mexico and increases permits or licenses required to export live or dried seahorses from Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatamala. Sources Bester, C. Longsnout Seahorse. Florida Museum of Natural History.Lourie, S.A.,  Foster, S.J., Cooper, E.W.T. and A.C.J. Vincent. 2004. A Guide to the Identification of Seahorses. Project Seahorse and TRAFFIC North America. 114 pp.Lourie, S.A., A.C.J. Vincent and H.J. Hall, 1999. Seahorses: an identification guide to the worlds species and their conservation. Project Seahorse, London. 214 p.  via FishBase.Project Seahorse 2003.  Hippocampus reidi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2.