Cristina S.

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HISTORY
 Ordovarian Period (425-500 million
years ago)
 OSTRACODERMS
○ Slow, bottom-dwelling animals
○ Covered with thick bony plates and scales
○ Had very poorly developed fins and didn’t
have jaws
○ Believed to be the first animal with backbone
 Extinct about 250 million years ago

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2 Groups of Fishes with movable jaws
PLACODERMS ACANTHODIANS

 Appeared about 395 million  Appeared about 410

years ago
million years ago
 Had thick, bony plates and
paired fins  Distinguished by the
 Their upper jaw was fused bony spines projecting in
to the skull while the lower front their fins and by
jaw was hinged and minute diamond-shaped
movable scales
 Extinct about 345 million
years ago  Class Osteichthyes
 Class Chondrichthyes evolved
evolved

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GENERAL CHARACTERICTICS
 Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates that
breathe with gills and move with the aid of
fins.
 They have the most numerous vertebrates
with more than 30, 000 species.
 All fish must maintain proper levels of salt
and water in their bodies through osmosis.
 Freshwater fishes: Body salts are higher in
concentration than surrounding water
 Saltwater fishes: Surrounding water has higher
concentration than their bodies
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  Most fish are able to react to changes in
water pressure, temperature, currents and
sounds.
 Fish have taste buds in their mouth, on their
lips and on their body and fins. Some are on
their barbels (whisker-like projections
around their mouth)
 Has highly developed sense of smell

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 EXTERNAL SOFT
SPINY DORSAL FIN ANATOMY
DORSAL FIN

PENDUCLE
LATERAL LINE

NOSTRILS
EYE

MOUTH VENT ANAL FIN

PECTORAL FIN SCALES

OPERCULUM CAUDAL/TAIL FIN
(GILL COVER) PELVIC FIN
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Scales
 Thin bony plates that overlap each other and
provide protection.
 Develop from and are embedded in a pocket of
the dermis.
 The exposed part is covered with a thin layer of
epidermis.
Four types of scales:
1. Ctenoid
2. Cycloid
3. Gamoid
4. Placoid

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 1. Ctenoid
○ Have serrations on the
edges and rough
surfaces
2. Cycloid
○ Have smooth surfaces
and edges that make
the fish feel smooth
and slick
3. Ganoid

4. Placoid

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Skin
 it contains glands that produce a slimy
mucus which makes the fish slippery and
provide protection from bacteria
 Contains chromatophores which are
pigment cells that give the fish its colors.
○ Usually allows to blend with its surroundings
 Sensory receptors are also contained in
the skin

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Anal fin
 Single
 Found on the underside near the tail
 Acts as rudder or keel to help steer the fish during
faster motion
 In some species, this has adapted to become a
sex organ

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 Fins
 Movable structures that aid the fish in
swimming and maintaining its balance.
 Most have rayed fins.
 These fins consist of a web of skin
supported by a bone or cartilage rods called
rays
○ May have sharp, spiny or soft rays
 Very flexible

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 Pectoral fin
 generally in symmetrical pairs
 Found on the side just behind the head
 Used to stabilize, rotate and stop the fish during
slower motion

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Caudal fin
 Single; also called tail fin
 Together with the caudal penducle, they
generate the forward thrust in most fish. These
are the main release point for that forward thrust.

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Pelvic fin
 also called ventral fins
 Generally in symmetrical pairs
 Found below and just behind the pectoral fins
 Used in similar fashion to the pectoral fins

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Dorsal fin
 Found along their back
 Soft dorsal fin
○ Used to stabilize the fish and keep them upright
○ Has similar purpose to the anal fin.
 Spinous dorsal fin
○ Also used to stabilize and keep them upright
○ Spiny and sharp
○ In some species, it contains venom for protection
from predators.
○ Display of an erect dorsal fin shows readiness to
mate and is in prime condition therefore a good
mate
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Eyes
 Has spherical lens that focuses by moving
within the eyeball, not by changing the
curvature of the lens
 They don’t have eyelids, kept moist by the
water
 Size usually depends on the amount of
light reaching the eye
○ Fish living shallow and brightly lit waters
have small eyes
○ Those that live in dimly lit water have big
eyes

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 Lateral line
 Series of fluid-filled ducts/sacs with hair-like
sensory apparatus that are open to the
water through a series of pores located just
under the scales.
 Neuromasts – Row of sensors that allow
the fish to detect movement (vibration)
around them in order to capture prey, elude
predators and navigate efficiently

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 Mouth
 Have taste buds
 Feeding/food is based on its shape
○ Top dwellers – upturned
○ Middle dwellers – small mouths and are
straight forward, neither upward nor
downward
○ Bottom-dwellers – downward turned or
underslung

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 Nostrils
 Used to detect odors in water and can be
quite sensitive

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Operculum (Gill cover)
 Flexible bony plate
 Protects the sensitive gills

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 Vent
 External opening to digestive urinary and
reproductive tracts

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 INTERNAL ANATOMY
SWIM BLADDER
SPINAL AND SPINAL CORD KIDNEY
MUSCLES

BRAIN

GILL
GONADS (EGGS)
HEART INTESTINES

LIVER PYLORIC CAECA

STOMACH
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 Kidney
 Filters liquid waste materials from the blood
then these waters are then passed out of
the body
 Regulates water and salt concentrations
within the fish’s body allowing certain fish
species to exist in freshwater or saltwater
and in some cases both

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 Liver
 Assists in digestion by secreting enzymes
that break down fats
 Serve as storage area for fats and
carbohydrates
 Destroys old blood cells
 Maintains proper blood chemistry
 Plays a role in nitrogen (waste) excretion

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 Muscle
 Provides movement and locomotion
 Part usually eaten and composes the fillet
or fish

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 Spine
 Primary structural framework upon which the
fish’s body is built
 Connects to the skull at the front and to the tail
at the rear of the fish.
 Made up of numerous vertebrae (hollow which
house and protect the delicate spinal cord)

Spinal Cord
 Connects the brain to the rest of the body
 Relays sensory information from the rest of
the body to the brain and vice versa

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 Stomach and Intestines
 Break down (digest) food and absorb
nutrients
 Piscivorous fish (eat other fish) have
fairly short intestine because such food is
easy to chemically break down and digest
 Herbivorous fish (eat plants) require
longer intestines because plant matter is
usually tough and fibrous and more difficult
to break down into usable components

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Swim Bladder
 located in the abdominal cavity
 Filled with gases produced by blood which
enables the fish to maintain a particular depth.
 A few bony fishes are able to breathe
atmospheric air because their swim bladder is
supplied with blood vessels thus allows it to
function like a lung
 A few fish species have a part of their intestines
that are modified to allow oxygen intake.
○ They rise to the surface and gulp air into their
mouths
○ The air is swallowed into the digestive system,
then taken to the blood.
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  Anabantoid fish have special rosette-shaped
plates in a labyrinthine chamber behind their
gills
○ These are supplied with numerous blood vessels
that absorb oxygen from the atmospheric air they
inhale through their mouth

>>These are important adaptation for fish living in

swamps or other waters that are poorly oxygenated

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 MUSCLE ANATOMY

# FISH MUSCLE IS DIFFERENT FROM ANIMAL MUSCLE

# LACKS TENDINOUS SYSTEM
# MUSCLE CELLS ARE PARALLEL (LONGITUDINAL)
# CONNECTED TO MYOCOMMATE
# BUNDLE OF PARALLEL MUSCLE CELLS- MYOTOMES
# MYOCOMMATA- OBLIQUE OR PLOW LIKE PATTERN
# IDEALLY SUITED FOR FLEXING MUSCLE
MOVEMENTS
# WHITE AND DARK (BROWN OR REDDISH) TISSUES
# REDDISH COLOR- ASTAXANTHIN (CAROTENOID)

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 Cristina S. Nebres Mindanao State University at
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 Cristina S. Nebres Mindanao State University at
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