U.S. #2205-09
1986 22¢ Fish
- 2nd USPS commemorative stamp booklet
- Produced in rolls two panes wide instead of the usual three
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Fish
Value: 22¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue: March 21, 1986
First Day City: Seattle, Washington
Quantity Issued: 219,990,000<... more
U.S. #2205-09
1986 22¢ Fish
- 2nd USPS commemorative stamp booklet
- Produced in rolls two panes wide instead of the usual three
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Fish
Value: 22¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue: March 21, 1986
First Day City: Seattle, Washington
Quantity Issued: 219,990,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Booklet panes of five in sheets of 120
Perforations: 10 Horizontally on 1 or 2 sides
Why the stamps were issued: This was the USPS’s second commemorative stamp booklet. In announcing the stamps in 1985, they said they were a new counterfeiting deterrent – as booklets are more difficult to counterfeit than sheets. These stamps were at the center of that year’s spring campaign, with the tagline “The Great Catch.”
About the stamp designs: Chuck Ripper, who’d previously illustrated the 1981 Wildlife Habitats, 1980 Coral Reefs, and 1984 Louisiana World Expo stamps provided the artwork for this set. The stamps depict five fish common to US waters. The Atlantic cod and the bluefin tuna are caught primarily for commercial use. The Muskellunge, largemouth bass, and the catfish are all freshwater species popular in sport fishing.
About the printing process: This booklet was printed in rolls of paper that were 13 inches wide, instead of the usual 18 or 21 inches. The BEP expected that this narrow width would allow for better color registration on the Andreotti press and Goebel machines that perforated and formed the booklets. These stamps were also printed with the video cross hair registration marks in the selvage. A camera was pointed at the stamps as they were printed and a person watching on a screen could see if any colors were out of alignment.
First Day City: The First Day Ceremony for these stamps was held at the National Wildlife Federation’s 50th anniversary convention in Seattle, Washington.
History these stamps represent: About 70 percent of planet Earth is covered with water, which is home to some 32,000 different kinds of fish. Yet scientists estimate they have only explored about one percent of the world’s water, leaving countless other species of fish still to be discovered.
All the world’s fish generally belong to one of three different groups: cartilaginous, bony, and lobe-finned. Frames of cartilaginous fish are made of cartilage, which is tough and flexible, allowing them to grow to massive sizes. Fish in this group include sharks, rays, skates, and chimaeras.
Bony fish, or ray-finned fish, have skeletons made of bone and are the most diverse of the three groups. Some 23,000 species belong to this group, including salmon, trout, cod, anglerfish, and electric eels. The third group, lobe-finned fish, are bony fish that have paired fins that feature fleshy lobes at the base. Fish in this group include lungfish and coelacanths.
Inhabiting deep seas, shallow streams, and everywhere in between, fish are the most diverse group of the world’s vertebrates. Did you know...
Most species of fish have taste buds all over their bodies.
Like humans, fish need oxygen. If there isn’t enough oxygen in the water, they can suffocate and drown.
Much like a tree, a fish’s age can be determined by the number of rings in its scales.
Catfish have more than 27,000 taste buds. In comparison, humans have about 7,000.
Possessing no vocal chords, fish communicate with moans, grunts, croaks, booms, hisses, whistles, creaks, shrieks, and wails. They also use other parts of their bodies, including vibrating muscles, to make noises.
Fish can push their mouths forward to catch prey because their jaws are not attached to their skulls.
Water pollution can change the sex of fish. It has been estimated that about one third of male fish in Britain’s waters change sex because of water pollution.
Saltwater fish need to constantly drink more water than freshwater fish because the sea water is saltier than the water in their bodies, which is constantly flowing out. If they did not replace this lost water, they would dry up like prunes.
Fish that swim in groups are known collectively as a school. These schools are controlled by the middle fish.
Few fish can swim backwards. Those that can are generally members of the eel family.
The first vertebrates on Earth with bony skeletons were fish. However, unlike modern fish, they did not have scales, fins, or jawbones, but did have dorsal fins.
Many species of fish have taste buds on their fins, face, and tails. They can taste food before it enters their mouths. Catfish have the most taste buds, as they are covered with them from head to tail, including their whiskers. This allows them to find food in muddy, murky water.
Fish that migrate between fresh and sea water are known as diadromous. Those that go from sea to freshwater to spawn (such as salmon) are known as anadromous. Fish that go from freshwater to the sea (such as eels) are called catadromous.
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