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FAST FACTS

Orange You Glad it’s the Garibaldi?

By: KATHERINE M. CLEMENTS

CALIFORNIA — In 1995, California adopted the garibaldi as its state fish and made its possession officially illegal. The Legislature acted to protect the garibaldi by placing a moratorium on the commercial collection and designating the garibaldi as the official State Marine Fish of California.

In 1840, an Italian named Giuseppe Garibaldi decided to start wearing bright red shirts as part of his personal style. He fought for the reunification of Italy, became a general, and died a national hero. As a result, when biologists discovered a brilliant red-orange fish cruising the rocky reefs of California- one that will grind his teeth at any intruder- they knew exactly what to name it.

The golden orange fish is about 14 inches long and has a heartshaped tail. Garibaldis are most commonly found in shallow waters off the coast of Southern California. They are widely recognized around Avalon Harbor by tourists visiting Catalina Island, hence its nickname, the Catalina goldfish. Young garibaldis are even more colorful than adults, as they are splattered with tiny electric blue dots. The garibaldi loves to hang

The garibaldi is a bright orange fi sh with a heart-shaped tail fi n. Swimming through dark reefs and kelp forests, it’s a jolt of glowing orange, a reminder that the garibaldi is a relative of coral-reef damselfi sh. Juvenile garibaldi fi sh are yellow-orange with iridescent blue spots and which signify to adults in the area that they are not a threat. As they grow, the blue spots disappear until they are solid orange. These fi sh are not considered mature until fi ve or six years old and are about eight inches long. likes to hang out in anemones. They love to eat sponges, algae, Please see FAST FACTS, PAGE 7

Shutterstock image

Shutterstock image

On Board With Johnson by J.R. Johnson

Letters/Online Comments

RE: US Sailing Releases Statement About

Ukraine (MARCH 4-18)

The war in Ukraine must be stopped by an international coalition NOW to prevent a global catastrophe. Ukraine and Russia are the two worst countries in the world to be at war from a global food standpoint. Together they are more than 24 % of the world’s wheat, and much more than half of sunfl ower and saffl ower oil production, and enormous amounts of the fertilizer required for crop yields worldwide (1). Moreover, Russia and Ukraine cannot ship wheat due to sanctions or blockade. Critical planting season is approaching for what is or may soon be a war zone. This is coming on top of exceptional to extreme droughts in California, in the US grain belt (2), crop failure due to too much rain in Canada’s grain belt, and reports that China’s winter wheat crop will be the worst in history. Unless this war is put to a stop now, a manmade catastrophe with unforeseen knock-on effects is coming for the world. —Marc Andelman

RE: Southern California Calendar Events

(MARCH 4-18)

Thank you. I have been a reader since before the web. —Rock Kendall