Fish Shape and Scales
Fish Shape and Scales
Fish Shape and Scales
the ventral midline near the caudal fin. There are two pairs of lateral fins on fish. The first lateral fin is the pectoral fin. It is usually found on the body behind the gills. The second lateral fin, the pelvic fins, are found on the belly behind the head, and before the anal fins. There is great diversity in the size, shape and details of fishes. Some fish are stringlike, like the eel, or globe-shaped like the puffer or greatly flattened, like the flounder. Some fish lack eyes, and others lack some of the features by which fish are recognized, including gills, fins, and scales. Their appearance is greatly influenced by their environment.
Diagram 2-1. To the right is a Sargassum fish that lives in Sargassum and resembles its surroundings.
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pectoral fin
pelvic fin
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Diagram 2-3. Scales and Characteristics.
Scale
Shape
Characteristic
covered with enamel-like layer
Example
Illustration
ganoid
rhombic
gar
cycloid
almost circular
smooth edges
salmon
ctenoid
round
perch
placoid
sharp, tooth-like
blue shark
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Body Form
The body form of a fish can give a quick assessment of the fish's way of life. In the diagram on the following pages, the different body shapes, and forms are described. Different shapes allow some fish to be fast or slow, bottom dwellers or live in the pelagic zone, and others to survive the extremes of the ocean.
See the following chart for an illustration of the different body forms.
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CROSS-SECTION BODY SHAPE
TYPE
EXAMPLE
FISH
Tuna Jack- Crevelle Salmon Angelfish Filefish Skates, Rays Angel Shark Flounder
CHARACTERISTICS
Fast swimming, ultrastreamlined, open water fishes Not constantly moving, require bursts of speed, large eyes Flight-like swimming, may live near or on the bottom. weak swimmer, ribbonlike, continuous body Adults live in freshwater, spawn at sea, lack pelvic fins, scaleless Long, thin body, moves like a wavy ribbon small, elongate, brightly colored, dorsal fin composed of spines
fusiform
compressed
C depressed D leptocephalii
American Eel
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arrow-like (sagittiform)
Lumpsuckers Frogfish
smooth or warty skin, tadpole shaped body, deep water dwellers, pelvic fins united to form sucker Body covered with bony armor, small mouth, slow-moving, live in seagrasses and coral reefs coiled tail, head bent downward, "armor plating", mouth is trapdoorlike depressed head, very round body, compressed tail
combination of shapes
combination of shapes
combination of shapes
Bullhead
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Markings
Many fish react to the color of their environment by altering their own hues to match it. Some fish can change their colors when startled, at rest, or to match their surroundings. Others can change stripes to spots for protection. Color changes in a fish may also or irregular outlines, while others have patterns and skin appendages that resemble the local vegetation. A common method of concealment is countershading. This is when the coloration is lighter on the belly than on the back. Many species have black, bluish or green backs and silvery bellies. The fish appears one color when seen from below because of how the light is bounced off it.
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Interview: Each team of reporters has now selected an animal. The team will first need to gather information about the animal through observation and consulting resource materials. One student asks questions while the other student assumes the role of the fish and responds to the questions. Questions might include
Fin shape Size and length Mouth location and appearance Coloration and appearance
Have the students change roles. Use care: Remind the students not to project human attributes to the animal. Stress to the students that they should try to see the world through the eyes of the fish. Final Report: Each team of students should use its notes and information that they have gathered as the background for writing up the interview with the chosen fish. The write up should be in the form of an informative newspaper article. The article should talk about the fish differs from other fish, its adaptations, its appearance, what it eats and where it lives. The article should convey that the students understand why fish are found in varieties of shapes, sizes and forms. Variation: Instead of a newspaper article, have the students present the information in front of the other students. This will emphasize public-speaking skills. Or, collaborate all the articles into an environmental mini-newspaper for everyone to read and keep. Teacher Evaluation of the project: If the articles are read aloud to the other students, or presented to the class in a public speaking forum, initiate discussion with some of the following words that might describe each fish: invertebrate, vertebrate, cartilage, omnivore, herbivore, carnivore, demersal, bioluminescence, colorful, dull, counter-shaded, spotted, lateral line, etc.
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Here are a few examples of poetic forms that might be used. Haiku. Haiku, originated by the Japanese, has an emphasis on the number of syllables. It consists of three lines, with five, seven and five syllables each. See the following example:
Syllables
Fish lazily swim In an underwater world. What would one see there?
5 7 5
Cinquain. Cinquain is based on syllables-or may be based on number of words-but there are five lines. Each line has a specific purpose and number of syllables or words. These are: 1) the title in two syllables (or words) 2); a description of the title in four syllables (or words); 3) a description of action in six syllables (or words); 4) a description of a feeling in eight syllables (or words); and 5) another word for the title in two syllables (or words). Here are two examples, the first using syllables and the second using words. Example 1. Panther Vital, quiet Moving swiftly to live Endangered by human patterns Near lost Example 2. Sea Otter Mammal of living waters Swimming, sleeping, eating, diving, basking, playing. Sensitive indicator of the quality of continuing life Still here Additional Variation: The completed poems may be typed and framed, or displayed with a picture of the fish that it is about, or an ink drawing. Additionally, any of the poems created can be written in the shape of a fish. Put the words in the shape of a fish outline.
PROJECT OCEANOGRAPHY FALL 1999 FISH ECOLOGY
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10 9
8 7 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 6
1. 3. 5. 7. 9.
Are there any parts your fish does or does not have that the fish above does or does not have?
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pectoral fin
pelvic fin
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Next time a fish comes into sight, identifying what it eats, how it swims, and where it lives might be a little easier!!
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