Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock. Oldham is surrounded by several smaller towns which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, of which Oldham is the administrative centre. Historically a part of Lancashire, and with little early history to speak of, Oldham rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and among the first ever industrialised towns, rapidly becoming "one of the most important centres of cotton and textile industries in England". At its zenith, it was the most productive cotton spinningmill town in the world, spinning more cotton than France and Germany combined. Oldham's textile industry began to fall into decline during the mid-20th century, and its last mill closed in 1998. The demise of textile processing in Oldham depressed the local economy. Today Oldham is a predominantly residential town, and a centre for further education and the performing arts. It is, however, still distinguished architecturally by the surviving cotton mills and other buildings associated with that industry. (more...)
Pardachirus marmoratus is a species of flatfish in the true sole family Soleidae, native to the western Indian Ocean from the Red Sea to Sri Lanka and along the east coast of Africa to Durban. It is found in shallow, coastal waters where the seabed consists of sand or mud, often near coral reefs, and feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates. The bilaterally symmetrical and highly compressed body is convex on the eyed side and flat on the blind side. Its colour is frequently whitish, pale brown to pale grey with a scattering of irregular dark brown ring shape markings and many dark brown spots on the head, body, and fins. Pardachirus marmoratus's colour provides camouflage when it rests on sandy or pebbled seafloors. This camouflaged P. marmoratus individual was photographed in the Indian Ocean near Zanzibar.
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