Fish Morphology

Classification Scheme of the Vertebrates

Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Agnatha
Class Chondrichthyes
Class Osteichthyes
Class Amphibia
Class Reptilia
Class Aves
Class Mammalia
Chordate Characteristics
 Chondrichthyes (370)
Ostracoderm (510-=350 mybp)

Placoderm
(395-345)

Osteichthyes (395)

(360)

lamprey
& hagfish
 Jaw Development

agnathostome gnathostome
1st appeared 400 mya
 Basic Anatomy
Class Agnatha
• Possess medial nostril, medial fins,
notocord rather than vertebral column
• 7 or more pr gill pouches present
• Light sensitive pineal eye
• Fertilization external
• Cartilaginous skeleton
• Lack jaws, paired fins, scales
• GI track w/out stomach
• Lampreys and hagfish
• 100 species
 Class Agnatha
Lamprey

ammocoetes
Class Agnatha
Hagfish
Basic Anatomy
Class Chondrichthyes
Sharks, skates, rays
 Basic Anatomy
Class Chondrichthyes
Sharks, skates, rays

• Posses jaws with teeth, cartilaginous skeleton, paired fins

• Scales (denticles) have same origin and composition as teeth
• Possesses 5-7 gills
• Spiral valve intestine
• Ureoosmotic strategy
• Electroreception
• Lateral line
• No swim bladder
• Heterocercal tail
• Relatively unchanged (480 mybp)
Basic Anatomy
Basic Anatomy
Class Osteichthyes
 Basic Anatomy
Class Osteichthyes
• Posses jaws with teeth, bony skeleton, paired fins
• 4 paired gill arches covered by operculum
• Intestine- simple, no spiral valve
• Swim bladder
• Lateral line
• Homocercal tail
• Scales- cycloid, ctenoid
Basic Anatomy
bony fish
Internal Anatomy

anus
Common Measurements
 Basic Anatomy
Latimeria

• Swim bladder modified to lungs

• Paired appendages
• May have given rise to terrestrial tetrapods
• Bony head
• Scales and teeth
 Fish Adaptations and Life Styles

General Life Style Categories

a. pelagic cruisers
1. occurring in water column far away from the bottom (benthic)
environment
2. often referred to as "blue water"
3. includes tuna, billfish, blue sharks, mackerel sharks (great
whites and mako sharks)
b. demersal
1. bottom-associated fishes, but not usually sitting on the
bottom
2. rely on the benthic environment as a source of food, place
to reproduce, and/or place of refuge, etc.
3. includes most reef fishes (e.g., butterfly fishes, surgeon
fishes, wrasses, parrot fishes, etc.)
c. benthic
1. bottom-dwelling fishes that spend the majority of
time sitting on the bottom
2. includes flatfishes, lizard fishes, many scorpion
fishes, many hawkfishes, gobies, etc.
 Body shape

tuna

1) fusiform
a) = torpedo-shaped
b) allows minimal drag while swimming
c) best shape for a pelagic cruise
2) compressed
a) laterally flattened (e.g., butterflyfishes &
surgeonfishes)
b) allows for maneuverability in surge environments
c) useful for demersal fishes that hover above the reef
d) exception seen in flatfishes that lie on one side of the
body as benthic fishes
3) elongated or attenuated
a) long body (e.g., trumpetfish, cornetfish, eels)
b) seen in demersal fish that either hover
motionless in the water)
c) seen also in benthic fishes (e.g., eels) that
hide in holes in the reef
4) depressed
a) dorso-ventrally flattened (e.g., frogfishes,
scorpionfishes & gobies)
b) broad ventral surface facilitates resting on
the bottom
c) seen in many benthic fishes
 Body Coloration

1) source of color
a) pigment color - chromatophores for yellows,
reds, oranges, browns, & blacks
b) structural color - iridophores (reflection) &
light refraction for blues, silvers, & rainbows
2) patterns
a) countershading
1) dark blue or black dorsally, white or silvery
ventrally
2) results in blue water "camouflage“
3) observed most frequently in pelagic cruisers
b) camouflage
1) matching the background coloration
2) usually involves having irregular dark
blotches and spots
3) typically seen in benthic fishes, especially
benthic ambush predators (e.g., frogfishes,
gobies, & many scorpionfishes)
4) some fishes (e.g., flatfishes) may exhibit
rapid color changes in response to different
backgrounds
b) camouflage
5) matching downwelling light

Hatchet fish

Cookie cutter shark

c) disruptive coloration
1) color pattern breaks up the silhouette
of the fish
2) may involve dark bars across the eye
and tail region
3) seen in many demersal fishes such as
butterfly fishes
d) bars and stripes
1) bars are vertical (e.g., manini)
2) stripes are horizontal (e.g., ta'ape)
3) seen frequently in schooling demersal
fishes
4) may confuse potential predators by
making it difficult to select individual
prey from the school
e) misdirection
1) false eye spots, etc.
2) observed in many demersal butterfly fishes
f) advertising coloration
1) bright, obvious color patterns
2) possible functions
a) advertising a cleaning station
(e.g., cleaner wrasses)
b) advertising a warning (e.g., nohu)
c) advertising for mates (e.g., male
parrotfishes)

Hawaiian cleaner
wrasse Nohu
g) mimicry
1) imitating other creatures
2) seen in a few demersal and benthic fishes
3) examples
a) blenny (Aspidontus taeniatus) mimics
cleaner wrasses

b) shortnose wrasse mimics Potter's angel

which sports a defensive spine
g) mimicry
4) leafy sea dragon (Australia)
h) uniform red coloration
1) most often observed in deep-dwelling or
night active demersal fishes
2) examples include opakapaka, oweoweo,
menpachi, & squirrelfishes
 i) noctural versus diurnal color changes
j) male versus female color differences
k) juvenile versus adult color differences

Dragon wrasse

Stoplight parrotfish Bluehead wrasse

Fish locomotion
 Types of Fins
The source of propulsion for virtually all fish
comes from:
1. Undulation of the body
2. Paired Fins:
• Pectoral
• Pelvic
3. Unpaired Fins:
• Caudal
• Dorsal
• Anal
4. A combination of the above
Anguilliform swimming
(Undulation)
Dorsal & Anal Fin Propulsion
Anal Fin Propulsion

Black ghost knifefish

Pectoral Fin Propulsion
 Dorsal fin

Bowfin

Sea horse

Knifefish
 Pectoral Fin

Frogfish
Walking catfish
Mudskipper
 Hydrodynamics:
Effects of shape on drag

Disk

Sphere

teardrop

Laminar flow and turbulence

Slowest Fish
Ewa Blenny 0.5 mph
 Fastest Fish

Blue-fin tuna

43.4 mph leaping

Sailfin

68 mph, leaping
Tuna- long distance swimmer

Snapper- short bursts

Countercurrent Exchange
Respiratory and Circulatory System
Ram Jet Ventilation
Buccal Pump Ventilation
Raven - Johnson - Biology: 6th Ed. - All Rights Reserved - McGraw Hill Companies
 Feeding Behavior

Suction feeding
Slingjaw wrasse
Inside lateral line canal
Fish adaptation to buoyancy in water
• Swim bladder
• Large liver and heterocercal tail

Buoyancy Compensator Device (BCD)

 Physostomous Gas Bladder
air
Physoclist gas bladder

Rete mirable
• Missing in fish that swim fast or
change depth rapidly (Tuna)
• Benthic fish (blennies, hawkfish,
stonefish…)
• Sharks, skates, rays
• Deep water fish
Osmoregulation- the control of the
concentration of body fluids.

Diffusion- movement of substance

from an area of greater concentration
to an area of lower concentration

Osmosis- diffusion of water through a

semipermeable membrane
 Marine Fish: hypoosmotic
Less salt than
H2O continually leaves body
external
environment

continually
drinks
seawater

excretes salt
through gills
produces small
amts of dilute urine
Freshwater Fish: hyperosmotic

H2O continually enters body

does not
drinks
water

More salt than

produces large external
amts of dilute urine environment
 Shark and Coelacanth: ureoosmotic
Maintains high levels of urea
and TMAO in blood

excretes salt
through
rectal gland

coelacanth
 Hagfish: ionosmotic
nonregulator

Seawater concentration = internal concentration

Osmolarity in Freshwater and Saltwater

Osmolarity- measure of total solutes(dissolved

particles)

Ions FW m osmol/l SW m osmol/l

Na+ 1 470
Cl- 1 550
Ca++ variable 10
Total 10 1000
 Habitat Na+ Cl- Urea

seawater sw 478 558

hagfish (Myxine) sw 537 542
lamprey fw 120 96
Goldfish (Carassius) fw 115 107
Toadfish (Opsanus) sw 160
Crab-eating frog (Rana) sw 252 227 350
Dogfish sw 287 240 354
freshwater ray fw 150 149 <1
coelacanth sw 197 199 350
 Sensory Systems
1. vision
2. hearing – inner ear; swim bladder
amplifies in some fish
3. olfaction – olfactory sacs; taste
buds
4. lateral lines of fish – detect
vibrations in the water
5. ampullae of Lorenzini (sharks and
rays) – sensitive to electric currents
6. geomagnetic sensory system (long
distance migration- tuna)
 Migration
1. Anadromous- salmon
a) can return to the same stream in which they
hatched
b) may use land features, currents, salinity,
temperature, the sun or magnetic field to get
close to land
c) sense of smell
d) die after spawning
e) young return to the sea
2. catadromous –freshwater eels
3. Extensive migration-anatomical basis for
magnetotaxis -- magnitite