Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/554642
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 7 blooded fish species on the planet. Fishing aboard the Excel, a San Diego-based boat owned by Excel Sport-Fishing, Ludlow and his companions caught three huge opahs. Ludlow's fish tipped the scales at 180 pounds,12 ounces, eclipsing the old record by an impressive 18 pounds. The opah (Lampris guttatus) is a roundish, bright-orange fish that exists in oceans around the world at depths from 150 to 1,300 feet. They can reach seven feet in length and weigh upwards of 200 pounds. In a recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), researchers discovered that the opah is the first known fish capable of distributing warm blood throughout its body, enabling it to remain active in deep, cold habitats. In an article in International Angler, Leah Baumwell wrote: "While most fish are ectothermic (their internal body temperatures are equivalent to their surrounding environment), some fish are known to be regionally endothermic (e.g, some billfish, tunas, and sharks) and can temporarily warm specific parts of their bodies, but not their hearts and other major organs, which remain the same temperature as ambient water. "So while these regionally endothermic predators can chase prey into deeper, colder water, they The NSSF maintains that lead- ammo bans will deter people from hunting and subsequently compromise jobs and tax revenue generated by sportsmen. In California, which has already restricted the use of traditional ammo, the organization concludes that alternative ammunitions may costs almost 400 percent more than tradition ammo, which would drive 23 percent of sportsmen to hunt less and 13 percent to cease hunting altogether, given the increased cost. Read more about the effects of banning lead ammo at http://bit.ly/1artWhl. THE WORLD'S ONLY WARM-BLOODED FISH? In August 2014 Joe Ludlow and his friends were jigging for tuna off Mexico's Baja Peninsula when he landed a special place in the annals of saltwater fishing. After a short but tough battle, Ludlow boated a new world-record opah, the only warm- oe Ludlow poses with his 180-pound opah, a new IGFA world record. J Continued on page 228