146 Animals and Habitats: Supplemental Guide 7A | Animals of the Freshwater Habitat
Show image 7A-7: Rainbow trout
Come with me beneath the water, and let’s take a look at what’s
under there. Here are some nice-looking rainbow trout. Fish can
only live in water, and they breathe underwater using gills on the
sides of their bodies. Gills take in oxygen from the water around
them. Fish have strong tails that they use for swimming and fi ns
that they use for steering and balance.
The rainbow trout is a carnivore.^10 It eats other water animals
like insects, other fi sh, and sometimes shellfi sh. It even eats some
small land animals like mice if it gets the chance, so I’m sure it
wouldn’t mind a nibble of rat! Rainbow trout like to live in rivers,
but some prefer the deeper water of big lakes.
Show image 7A-8: Bullfrog^11
I enjoyed exploring beneath the surface of the water, and now
I’m going to rest on a lily pad again. While I’m drying off a bit, let
me show you a kind of frog called a bullfrog that I can see sitting
at the water’s edge. Frogs are amphibious, which means they live
both in the water and on land. Bullfrogs are the largest kind of frog
found in North America, and they can grow more than half a foot
long and weigh more than a pound. That’s a really big frog!
The bullfrog gets its name from the loud, cow-like noise it
makes.^12 I bet birds and turtles would be pretty surprised to
know that a frog can make such a loud sound! Pretty neat, huh?
This bullfrog is resting now, but it will come out to hunt when it
gets dark. Bullfrogs eat a lot of different kinds of food. They are
carnivores, so they eat small fi sh, snakes, birds, and insects like
this dragonfl y that’s buzzing about my head.
Show image 7A-9: Adult dragonfl y^13
Adult dragonfl ies are fl ying insects with long bodies and wings.
Dragonfl ies live around lakes, streams, and other freshwater
habitats because they lay their eggs in water. Adult dragonfl ies eat
other insects like mosquitoes, fl ies, and bees.10 Remember, a carnivore is an
animal that eats other animals.
11 What do you see in this image?
12 A male cow is called a bull. What
sound does a cow make?
13 This is an adult dragonfl y. Adult
means grown up.