Fishes

Chapter 24

I. Diversity
26,000 living speciesmore species than
all other vertebrate groups combined
Adapted to live in a medium 800 x more
dense than air
Can adjust to salt and water balance of
environment
Gills extract oxygen from water that has
1/20th the oxygen of air
Aquatic environment both shaped and
constrained their evolution

II. Ancestry and Evolution

A. Ancestor
Descended from freeswimming protochordate
ancestor
B. Agnathans
Earliest fish-like
vertebrates
Include extinct
ostracoderms, and living
lampreys and hagfishes
C. Placoderms
Fish with paired
appendages and jaws that
went extinct in
Carboniferous with no
living descendants

D. & E.
D. Cartilaginous Fishes
Lost heavy armor and
adopted cartilage as
skeleton
Flourished during some
periods, becoming nearly
extinct during others
E. Acanthodians
Resemble bony fish but
have heavy spines on all
but caudal fin; sister
group to bony fishes
Went extinct in lower
Permian

F. Bony Fishes
Dominant fishes today
2 distinct lineagesray finned and lobe
finned
Ray-finned radiated to form modern bony
fishes
Lobe-finned include lungfishes, the
coelacanth, and are sister group to
tetrapods (amphibian ancestors)

III. Superclass Agnatha: Jawless

Fishes
A. Characteristics
Lack jaws, internal ossification, scales,
or paired limbs
Pore-like gill openings and eel-like body

B. Class Myxini: Hagfishes

43 species
Entirely marine
Scavengers and predators
of annelids, molluscs, dead
or dying fishes, etc
Nearly blind but locates
food by acute sense of
smell
Rasps hole into prey then
eats from inside out with
plate-like tongue
Glands secrete substance
that becomes slimy in
contact with seawater

C. Class Cephalaspidomorphi
1. Diversity
41 species; 22 in
North America and of
these, half are nonparasitic brook
variety
Marine lampreys can
grow to length of 1
m.
All lampreys
reproduce in
freshwater streams,
dying soon after

2. Parasitic Lampreys
Attach to fish by suckerlike mouth and sharp
teeth rasp away flesh
Anticoagulant injected
into wound to stimulate
flow of blood
Wound may be fatal to
host fish
Non-parasitic lampreys
do not feed; digestive
system degenerates and
fish die after
reproducing, within 2-3
years

3. Sea Lamprey Invasion

No lampreys existed in
Great Lakes prior to
1829 when shipping
canals were built
By the 1940s, they
existed in all the lakes
They decimated
almost all fish species
until populations
finally declined due to
lack of food and
control measures

IV. Class Chondrichthyes

A. Overview
850 species nearly all marine; 28 species live in freshwater
Ancient lineage but have survived due to well-developed
sense organs and powerful jaws making them successful
predators
Largest living vertebrates, after whales, reaching up to 12
m in length

Whale
shark
reache
s 43 in
length

B. Subclass Elasmobranchii
1. Sharks
A. Orders
Carcharhiniformestiger and bull
sharks which are coastal sharks and
the hammerhead
Lamniformes-- white and mako sharks
which are large pelagic sharks
Squaliformessome of these are deep
sea dwellers like dogfish sharks
Orectolobiformescarpet sharks like
bamboo, nurse, and whale sharks

Sharks

More Sharks

b. Outer Physiology
Streamlined fusiform body
shape
Pointed nose with paired
nostrils in front of ventral
mouth; on hammerhead,
nostrils on ends of
hammer
Lateral eyes without lids
Tail has longer upper lobe
(heterocercal)
Paired pectoral and pelvic
fins, 1-2 dorsal fins, 1 caudal
fin, and sometimes an anal
fin
Tough, leathery skin with
placoid scales that reduce
water turbulence

Body Structures of a Shark

c. Senses
Olfactory organs can
detect chemicals diluted
1/10 billionth their original
concentration
Lateral line senses low
frequency vibrations of
prey over large distances
Excellent vision, even in
dim water, used at close
range
At close range, sharks are
guided to prey by electric
fields surrounding all
animals

d. Inner Physiology
Sharp triangular teeth in
upper and lower jaws;
arranged in rows that are
constantly replaced
Mouth leads to pharynx
with openings to gill slits
Osmoregulation
accomplished by rectal
gland which secretes
sodium chloride;
nitrogenous compounds
are also retained in blood
to increase solute
concentrations, making
more on par with seawater

e. Shark Attacks
Only 32 species ( of 350) have been
documented to attack humans with
another 36 considered potentially
dangerous; these typically are the
larger size sharks; 80 % of sharks
are harmless
Great white, tiger, and bull sharks
are the more aggressive species
50-75 attacks occur each year, with
8-12 fatalities; in contrast 30-100
million sharks are killed every year
Attacks usually occur by sandbars,
steep drop offs, or by river inlets
and are associated with mistaken
identity,territorial behavior, or
feeding behavior

2. Rays
A. Order
Rajiformesskates, sawfish rays,
electric rays, stingrays, manta rays and
others
Make up half of all species of
Elasmobranchii

b. Form and Function

Specialized for benthic life
Flattened dorsoventrally; enlarged pectoral
fins are used as swimming wings
Water used in respiration enters large
spiracles in head
Teeth adapted to act as rollers to crush
invertebrates and sometimes small fish
Stingrays have whip-like tail with spines and
venom glands
Electric rays have electric organs on sides of
head

C. Subclass Holocephali:
Chimeras
31 species
Ratfishes
Diverged from earliest shark lineage
Mouth has flat plates for crushing
invertebrates; also feeds on seaweed and
small fish

D. Reproduction and
Development
Internal fertilization
Oviparous sharks and rays lay an egg capsule
immediately after fertilization that attaches to
kelp with tendrils; may take up to 2 years before
mini adult hatches
Ovoviviparous sharks retain fertilized eggs in
reproductive system where they are nourished by
yolk of egg; live birth
Viviparous sharks nourish embryos with maternal
bloodstream; live birth
Live births make it more likely more of the young
survive but no other care is given after birth

Embryo Development

V. Superclass Osteichthyes
A. Origin, Evolution, and Diversity
Lineage developed in Silurian and now
accounts for 96% of all fishes and all tetrapods
Bone replaces cartilage as fish develops
Lung or swim bladder evolved from an
extension of the gut; gas filled, it aids in
buoyancy
Bony operculum, a flap covering the gills that
rotates outward, draws water more efficiently
over them
Specialization of jaw musculature improves
feeding; also unique dental characters

B. Class Actinopterygii

23,600 species comprise the ray-finned fishes

Most familiar fish type

a. Palaeoniscids
Earliest forms, existing from late Silurian
to late Paleozoic
Small, large eyes, dorsal fin with bony
rays, heterocercal tail, and interlocking
scales
Survived as other fishes declined,
suggesting some adaptive advantage
Gave rise to the chondrosteons and the
neopterygians

b. Chondrosteons
Most primitive characteristics
Heterocercal tail and ganoid scales
Living species include sturgeons,
paddlefishes, and bichirs

c. Neopterygians
One lineage gave rise
to modern bony fishes,
the teleosts
Living species are
bowfin and gars which
gulp air and use
vascularized swim
bladder to supplement
the gills

d. Teleosts
96 % of all living fishes; half of all
vertebrates
10 mm to 17 m; up to 900 kg in weight
Found at 5,200 m to 8,000 m below sea
level
Some can live in hot springs at 44 oC while
others can survive in Antarctic 2 oC.
Some live in salt concentrations three
times seawater; others in swamps devoid
of oxygen

2. Morphological Trends

Cycloid

Ctenoi
d

Heavy armor replaced by light

cycloid or ctenoid scales which made
fish more mobile; some fish such as
eels and catfish have completely lost
scales
Fins changed to provide greater
mobility and serve a variety of
functions: braking, streamlining, and
social communication
Homocercal tail allowed greater
speed and buoyancy
Swim bladder switched from
primarily respiratory to buoyancy in
function
Jaw changed to increase suctioning
and protrusion to secure food

C. Class Sarcopterygii
1. Diversity
Only 7 species alive today;
6 lungfishes and 1
coelacanth
Early ones had lungs as
well as gills, heterocercal
tail; later tail became
symmetrical
Skin covered in heavy
scales overlaid by an
enamel
Fleshy, paired lobes are
used to scuttle along
bottom
South American and African
lungfishes can survive out
of water or long periods of
time

2. Coelacanth
Thought to have been
extinct for 70 million
years until one was
dredged up off of
coast of Africa in 1938
More were caught off
the coast of the
Comoro Islands in
1998

VI. Structural and Function Adaptations

A. Locomotion
1. Mechanism
Trunk and tail muscles propel fish forward by
undulations
Large, rigid head minimizes yaw
Very rigid body creates less yaw and a fast fish
The largest fin is the tail or caudal fin for rapid
forward movement.
Dorsal fins on the top and anal fins underneath
assist with lateral stability.
Pectoral fins behind the gill covers (operculum)
assist with hovering and slow turning.
Pelvic fins are often small for open water
swimmers but larger on bottom dwellers which
use them for resting on.

2. Speed and Energy

Larger fish swim faster
Short bursts of speed are possible for a
few seconds
Swimming is most economical means of
motion since water buoys the animal;
swimming expends 0.30 Kcal, 1.45 Kcal for
walking, and 5.43 Kcal for flying

B. Swim Bladder
Fish are slightly heavier than water
A shark has a very fatty liver that makes it a
little buoyant; must also keep swimming to
move it forward and angle itself up
Bottom dwelling fishes also lack swim bladder
Fish can control depth by adjusting volume of
gas in swim bladder
Gas gland removes or adds gases from blood
to remove or add gas to bladder
Some fish gulp air to fill swim bladder

C. Respiration
Gill filaments are folds of tissue inside the
pharyngeal cavity covered by the operculum
Continuous water flow opposite blood flow
through capillaries maximizes gas exchange
allowing some fish to remove 85% of O2 from H2O
Some fishes are dependent on ram ventilation as
well, in which forward movement pushes more
water over gills; such fish will die in an aquarium
Lungfish use lungs; eels use skin; bowfin uses
gills at low temperatures and air bladder at
higher temperatures; electric eel has degenerate
gills and must gulp air

D. Osmotic Regulation
1. Freshwater Fishes
Freshwater has less salt than blood of fish
so water tends to enter fishs cells and its
salts tend to leave
Hyperosmotic regulators: kidney pumps
out excess water and salt absorbing cells
in skin remove salts from water and add
to blood
Euryhaline fishes live in estuary
environments where they are in contact
with both fresh and salt water

2. Marine Fishes
Blood has lower salt content than
surrounding water so tend to lose water
and gain salt
Hypo-osmotic regulators: fish drinks water
bringing in more water but also salt; salt
is carried by blood to gills where it is
secreted by salt-secretory cells, some salt
leaves in feces, and others are excreted
by kidneys

E. Feeding Behavior
Most time devoted to searching for food and eating
Most carnivores-feed on zooplankton, insect larvae,
and other aquatic animals
Most dont chew food since it would block flow of
water across gills; swallow food whole although a
few have teeth that crack prey or have some
molars in throat
Some herbivores--eat plants and algae
Suspension feeders eat plankton, using gill rakers
to strain food; these fish swim in large schools
Also have omnivores, scavengers, and parasites
Stomach used for storage; intestines absorb and
digest nutrients

F. Migration

1. Eels
Catadromousdevelop in freshwater but spawn
in seawater
Adult eels spawn in Sargasso Sea at depths of
300 m.
Larvae drift for 2 years before developing into
elvers; males remain in brackish water; females
swim hundreds of miles up rivers
Females mature for 8-15 years before returning
to the sea ( 8 months to complete journey)
American eels are separate species from
European eels

2. Salmon
Anadromousliving in sea but spawing in
freshwater
6 Pacific salmon species, and 1 Atlantic salmon
species that migrate
Pacific species migrate downstream, live in
Pacific for 4 years, and then return up the same
stream it was spawned in
Young fish are imprinted with the odor of their
stream
Pacific salmon spawn and then die
Endangered by stream degradation, logging,
pollution, and hydroelectric dams

G. Reproduction
Most dioecious with external fertilization and
development
Some are ovoviviparous where eggs develop in
ovarian cavitysharks, guppies, mollies
Oviparous marine fish lay large numbers of eggs,
upwards of several million
Nearshore or bottom dwelling fish lay fewer,
larger nonbuoyant sticky eggs
Some fish bury eggs, attach them to vegetation,
incubate them in their mouths
Freshwater fish produce fewer, nonbuoyant eggs,
and more care is usually provided
Many freshwater fish also have elaborate mating
dances before spawning

H. Growth
Egg starts to take up water after it is laid, outer
layer hardens, and cell division begins
Yolk is consumed during development
Fish fry hatch carrying semitransparent yolk sac
to supply food until it can forage
As fry change to adult, it may undergo dramatic
changes in body shape, fins, color patterns, etc
Growth is temperature dependent; warmer fish
grow more rapidly
Annual rings on scales reflect seasonal growth
cycles
Most fish continue to grow throughout life and do
not stop at maturity

Fish Development