Fish are
aquatic,
craniate
A craniate is a member of the Craniata (sometimes called the Craniota), a proposed clade of chordate animals with a skull of hard bone or cartilage. Living representatives are the Myxini (hagfishes), Hyperoartia (including lampreys), and the m ...
,
gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
-bearing animals that lack
limbs with
digits. Included in this definition are the living
hagfish
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, ...
,
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s, and
cartilaginous
Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck a ...
and
bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of living fish species are ray-finned fish, belonging to the class
Actinopterygii, with around 99% of those being
teleost
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Tele ...
s.
The earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied
chordate
A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five synapomorphies, or primary physical characteristics, that distinguish them from all the other taxa. These fi ...
s that first appeared during the
Cambrian period. Although they lacked a
true spine, they possessed
notochords which allowed them to be more agile than their invertebrate counterparts. Fish would continue to evolve through the
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
era, diversifying into a wide variety of forms. Many fish of the Paleozoic developed
external armor that protected them from predators. The first fish with
jaw
The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ...
s appeared in the
Silurian period, after which many (such as
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s) became formidable marine predators rather than just the prey of
arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
s.
Most fish are
ectotherm
An ectotherm (from the Greek () "outside" and () "heat") is an organism in which internal physiological sources of heat are of relatively small or of quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature.Davenport, John. Animal Life ...
ic ("cold-blooded"), allowing their body temperatures to vary as ambient temperatures change, though some of the large active swimmers like
white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is nota ...
and
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
can hold a higher
core temperature
Normal human body-temperature (normothermia, euthermia) is the typical temperature range found in humans. The normal human body temperature range is typically stated as .
Human body temperature varies. It depends on sex, age, time of day, exert ...
. Fish can acoustically communicate with each other, most often in the context of feeding, aggression or courtship.
Fish are abundant in most bodies of water. They can be found in nearly all aquatic environments, from high mountain streams (e.g.,
char and
gudgeon) to the
abyssal
The abyssal zone or abyssopelagic zone is a layer of the pelagic zone of the ocean. "Abyss" derives from the Greek word , meaning bottomless. At depths of , this zone remains in perpetual darkness. It covers 83% of the total area of the ocean a ...
and even
hadal
The hadal zone, also known as the hadopelagic zone, is the deepest region of the ocean, lying within oceanic trenches. The hadal zone ranges from around below sea level, and exists in long, narrow, topographic V-shaped depressions.
The cumula ...
depths of the deepest oceans (e.g.,
cusk-eels
The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ''ophis'' meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels, however, diverged from other ray- ...
and
snailfish
The Liparidae, commonly known as snailfish or sea snails, are a family of marine scorpaeniform fishes.
Widely distributed from the Arctic to Antarctic Oceans, including the oceans in between, the snailfish family contains more than 30 genera ...
), although no species has yet been documented in the deepest 25% of the ocean. With 34,300 described species, fish exhibit greater species diversity than any other group of vertebrates.
Fish are an important resource for humans worldwide, especially
as food. Commercial and subsistence fishers hunt fish in
wild fisheries
A wild fishery is a natural body of water with a sizeable free-ranging fish or other aquatic animal (crustaceans and molluscs) population that can be harvested for its commercial value. Wild fisheries can be marine ( saltwater) or lacustrine/r ...
or
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...
them in ponds or in cages in the ocean (in
aquaculture). They are also caught by
recreational fishers, kept as pets, raised by
fishkeepers, and exhibited in public
aquaria. Fish have had a role in culture through the ages, serving as deities, religious symbols, and as the subjects of art, books and movies.
Tetrapod
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct t ...
s (
amphibians,
reptiles,
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s and
mammals) emerged within
lobe-finned fishes, so
cladistically
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...
they are fish as well. However, traditionally fish (pisces or ichthyes) are rendered
paraphyletic by excluding the tetrapods, and are therefore not considered a formal taxonomic grouping in
systematic biology
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tr ...
, unless it is used in the
cladistic
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...
sense, including tetrapods, although usually "
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
" is preferred and used for this purpose (fish plus tetrapods) instead. Furthermore,
cetaceans, although mammals, have often been considered fish by various cultures and time periods.
Etymology
The word for ''fish'' in English and the other
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
(
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
;
Gothic ) is inherited from
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...
, and is related to the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
, though the exact root is unknown; some authorities reconstruct a
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...
root , attested only in
Italic,
Celtic, and
Germanic.
The English word once had a much broader usage than its current biological meaning. Names such as
starfish,
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...
,
shellfish and
cuttlefish attest to almost any fully aquatic animal (including whales) once being ''fish''. "Correcting" such names (e.g. to ''sea star'') is an attempt to retroactively apply the current meaning of ''fish'' to words that were coined when it had a different meaning.
Evolution
Fish, as vertebrata, developed as sister of the tunicata. As the tetrapods emerged deep within the fishes group, as sister of the lungfish, characteristics of fish are typically shared by tetrapods, including having vertebrae and a cranium.
![D_Terrelli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/D_Terrelli.png)
Early fish from the fossil record are represented by a group of small, jawless, armored fish known as
ostracoderm
Ostracoderms () are the armored jawless fish of the Paleozoic Era. The term does not often appear in classifications today because it is paraphyletic (excluding jawed fishes) (may also be polyphyletic if anaspids are closer to cyclostomes) an ...
s. Jawless fish lineages are mostly extinct. An extant clade, the
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s may approximate ancient pre-jawed fish. The first jaws are found in
Placodermi
Placodermi (from Greek πλάξ 'plate' and δέρμα 'skin', literally ' plate-skinned') is a class of armoured prehistoric fish, known from fossils, which lived from the Silurian to the end of the Devonian period. Their head and thorax were co ...
fossils. They lacked distinct teeth, having instead the oral surfaces of their jaw plates modified to serve the various purposes of teeth. The diversity of jawed vertebrates may indicate the evolutionary advantage of a
jawed mouth. It is unclear if the advantage of a hinged jaw is greater biting force, improved respiration, or a combination of factors.
Fish may have evolved from a creature similar to a coral-like
sea squirt
Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" m ...
, whose larvae resemble primitive fish in important ways. The first ancestors of fish may have
kept the larval form into adulthood (as some sea squirts do today).
Phylogeny
Fishes are a
paraphyletic group: that is, any
clade containing all fish also contains the
tetrapod
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct t ...
s, which are not fish (though they include fish-shaped forms, such as
Whales and Dolphins or the
extinct ichthyosaurs
Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – and ) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, alt ...
, which acquired a fish-like body shape due to
secondary aquatic adaptation, see
evolution of cetaceans
The evolution of cetaceans is thought to have begun in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates 50 million years ago (mya) and to have proceeded over a period of at least 15 million years. Cetaceans are fully aquatic marine mammals bel ...
).
The following
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
shows
clades - some with, some without
extant relatives - that are traditionally considered as "fishes" (
cyan line) and the tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates), which are mostly terrestrial.
Extinct groups are marked with a
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
(†).
Taxonomy
![Leedsichthys problematicus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Leedsichthys_problematicus.jpg)
Fishes are a
paraphyletic group and for this reason, groups such as the class ''Pisces'' seen in older reference works are no longer used in formal classifications. Traditional classification divides fish into three
extant classes, and with extinct forms sometimes classified within the tree, sometimes as their own classes:
[ Romer, A.S. & T.S. Parsons. 1977. ''The Vertebrate Body.'' 5th ed. Saunders, Philadelphia. (6th ed. 1985)]
* Class
Agnatha
Agnatha (, Ancient Greek 'without jaws') is an infraphylum of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both present (cyclostomes) and extinct (conodonts and ostracoderms) species. Among recent animals, cyclosto ...
(jawless fish)
** Subclass
Cyclostomata
Cyclostomi, often referred to as Cyclostomata , is a group of vertebrates that comprises the living jawless fishes: the lampreys and hagfishes. Both groups have jawless mouths with horny epidermal structures that function as teeth called cer ...
(
hagfish
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, ...
and
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s)
** Subclass
Ostracodermi (armoured jawless fish) †
* Class
Chondrichthyes
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. ...
(cartilaginous fish)
** Subclass
Elasmobranchii
Elasmobranchii () is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including sharks (superorder Selachii), rays, skates, and sawfish (superorder Batoidea). Members of this subclass are characterised by having five to seven pairs of ...
(
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s and
rays
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gra ...
)
** Subclass
Holocephali
Holocephali ("complete heads"), sometimes given the term Euchondrocephali, is a subclass of cartilaginous fish in the class Chondrichthyes. The earliest fossils are of teeth and come from the Devonian period. Little is known about these primitiv ...
(
chimaeras and extinct relatives)
* Class
Placodermi
Placodermi (from Greek πλάξ 'plate' and δέρμα 'skin', literally ' plate-skinned') is a class of armoured prehistoric fish, known from fossils, which lived from the Silurian to the end of the Devonian period. Their head and thorax were co ...
(armoured fish) †
* Class
Acanthodii
Acanthodii or acanthodians is an extinct class of gnathostomes (jawed fishes), typically considered a paraphyletic group. They are currently considered to represent a grade of various fish lineages leading up to the extant Chondrichthyes, whi ...
("spiny sharks", sometimes classified under Actinopterygii)
* Class
Osteichthyes (bony fish)
** Subclass
Actinopterygii (ray finned fishes)
** Subclass
Sarcopterygii
Sarcopterygii (; ) — sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii () — is a taxon (traditionally a class or subclass) of the bony fishes known as the lobe-finned fishes. The group Tetrapoda, a mostly terrestrial superclass includi ...
(lobe finned fishes, ancestors of tetrapods)
The above scheme is the one most commonly encountered in non-specialist and general works. Many of the above groups are paraphyletic, in that they have given rise to successive groups: Agnathans are ancestral to Chondrichthyes, who again have given rise to Acanthodiians, the ancestors of Osteichthyes. With the arrival of
phylogenetic nomenclature, the fishes has been split up into a more detailed scheme, with the following major groups:
* Class Myxini (
hagfish
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, ...
)
* Class
Pteraspidomorphi † (early jawless fish)
* Class
Thelodonti
Thelodonti (from Greek: "feeble teeth")Maisey, John G., Craig Chesek, and David Miller. Discovering fossil fishes. New York: Holt, 1996. is a class of extinct jawless fishes with distinctive scales instead of large plates of armor.
There is much ...
†
* Class
Anaspida †
* Class
Petromyzontida or Hyperoartia
** Petromyzontidae (
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s)
* Class
Conodonta (conodonts) †
* Class
Cephalaspidomorphi
Cephalaspidomorphs are a group of jawless fishes named for '' Cephalaspis'' of the osteostracans. Most biologists regard this taxon as extinct, but the name is sometimes used in the classification of lampreys, because lampreys were once thought ...
† (early jawless fish)
** (unranked)
Galeaspida
Galeaspida (from Latin, 'Helmet shields') is an extinct taxon of jawless marine and freshwater fish. The name is derived from ''galea'', the Latin word for ''helmet'', and refers to their massive bone shield on the head. Galeaspida lived in shallo ...
†
** (unranked)
Pituriaspida
The Pituriaspida ('Pituri-shield' or 'hallucinogen-shield') are a small group of extinct armored jawless fishes with tremendous nose-like rostrums, which lived in the marine, deltaic environments of Middle Devonian Australia (about 390 Ma). The ...
†
** (unranked)
Osteostraci
The class Osteostraci (meaning "bony shells") is an extinct taxon of bony-armored jawless fish, termed "ostracoderms", that lived in what is now North America, Europe and Russia from the Middle Silurian to Late Devonian.
Anatomically speaking, t ...
†
* Infraphylum
Gnathostomata
Gnathostomata (; from Greek: (') "jaw" + (') "mouth") are the jawed vertebrates. Gnathostome diversity comprises roughly 60,000 species, which accounts for 99% of all living vertebrates, including humans. In addition to opposing jaws, living ...
(jawed vertebrates)
** Class
Placodermi
Placodermi (from Greek πλάξ 'plate' and δέρμα 'skin', literally ' plate-skinned') is a class of armoured prehistoric fish, known from fossils, which lived from the Silurian to the end of the Devonian period. Their head and thorax were co ...
† (armoured fish)
** Class
Chondrichthyes
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. ...
(cartilaginous fish)
** Class
Acanthodii
Acanthodii or acanthodians is an extinct class of gnathostomes (jawed fishes), typically considered a paraphyletic group. They are currently considered to represent a grade of various fish lineages leading up to the extant Chondrichthyes, whi ...
† (spiny sharks)
** Superclass
Osteichthyes (bony fish)
*** Class
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
**** Subclass
Chondrostei
Chondrostei is a group of non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, while the term originally referred to a paraphyletic group of all non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, it was redefined by Patterson in 1982 to be a clade comprising the Acipenseriformes (w ...
***** Order
Acipenseriformes
Acipenseriformes is an order of basal ray-finned fishes that includes living and fossil sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseroidei), as well as the extinct families Chondrosteidae and Peipiaosteidae. They are the second earliest div ...
(
sturgeons and
paddlefish
Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their titular elongla ...
es)
***** Order
Polypteriformes
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
(
reedfish
The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, ''Erpetoichthys calabaricus'', is a species of fish in the bichir family and order. It is the only member of the genus ''Erpetoichthys''. It is native to fresh and ...
es and
bichir
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
s).
**** Subclass
Neopterygii
Neopterygii (from Greek νέος ''neos'' 'new' and πτέρυξ ''pteryx'' 'fin') is a subclass of ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii). Neopterygii includes the Holostei and the Teleostei, of which the latter comprise the vast majority of extant ...
***** Infraclass
Holostei
Holostei is a group of ray-finned bony fish. It is divided into two major clades, the Halecomorphi, represented by a single living species, the bowfin ('' Amia calva''), as well as the Ginglymodi, the sole living representatives being the gars ...
(
gar
Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...
s and
bowfins)
***** Infraclass
Teleostei
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Te ...
(many orders of common fish)
*** Class
Sarcopterygii
Sarcopterygii (; ) — sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii () — is a taxon (traditionally a class or subclass) of the bony fishes known as the lobe-finned fishes. The group Tetrapoda, a mostly terrestrial superclass includi ...
(lobe-finned fish)
**** Subclass
Actinistia
The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
(
coelacanth
The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
s)
**** Subclass Dipnoi (
lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
, sister group to the
tetrapods
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids (reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct therapsi ...
)
† – indicates extinct taxon
Some palaeontologists contend that because
Conodonta are
chordate
A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five synapomorphies, or primary physical characteristics, that distinguish them from all the other taxa. These fi ...
s, they are primitive fish. For a fuller treatment of this taxonomy, see the
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
article.
The position of
hagfish
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, ...
in the phylum Chordata is not settled. Phylogenetic research in 1998 and 1999 supported the idea that the hagfish and the lampreys form a natural group, the
Cyclostomata
Cyclostomi, often referred to as Cyclostomata , is a group of vertebrates that comprises the living jawless fishes: the lampreys and hagfishes. Both groups have jawless mouths with horny epidermal structures that function as teeth called cer ...
, that is a sister group of the Gnathostomata.
The various fish groups account for more than half of vertebrate species. As of 2006, there are almost 28,000 known
extant species, of which almost 27,000 are bony fish, with 970
sharks, rays, and chimeras and about 108 hagfish and lampreys. A third of these species fall within the nine largest families; from largest to smallest, these families are
Cyprinidae,
Gobiidae
Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...
,
Cichlidae,
Characidae
Characidae, the characids or characins is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their ...
,
Loricariidae
The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...
,
Balitoridae
The hillstream loaches or river loaches are a family, the Balitoridae, of small fish from South, Southeast and East Asia. The family includes about 202 species. They are sometimes sold as "lizardfish" or (in Germany) "flossensaugers". Many of the ...
,
Serranidae
The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some ca ...
,
Labridae, and
Scorpaenidae. About 64 families are
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
, containing only one species. The final total of extant species may grow to exceed 32,500. Each year, new
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
are discovered and
scientifically described
A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...
. As of 2016,
there are over 32,000 documented species of bony fish and over 1,100 species of cartilaginous fish. Species are lost through
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
(see
biodiversity crisis
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...
). Recent examples are the
Chinese paddlefish
The Chinese paddlefish (''Psephurus gladius''; : literal translation: "white sturgeon"), also known as the Chinese swordfish, is an extinct species of fish that was formerly native to the Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China. With records of ...
or the
smooth handfish.
Diversity
Pacific_hagfish_Myxine.jpg, Agnatha
( Pacific hagfish)
Hornhai (Heterodontus francisci).JPG, Chondrichthyes
(Horn shark
The horn shark (''Heterodontus francisci'') is a species of bullhead shark, in the family Heterodontidae. It is endemic to the coastal waters off the western coast of North America, from California to the Gulf of California. Young sharks are seg ...
)
Salmo trutta.jpg, Actinopterygii
( Brown trout)
Latimeria chalumnae01.jpg, Sarcopterygii
(Coelacanth
The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
)
![leafydragon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Leafydragon.jpg)
The term "fish" most precisely describes any non-
tetrapod
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct t ...
craniate
A craniate is a member of the Craniata (sometimes called the Craniota), a proposed clade of chordate animals with a skull of hard bone or cartilage. Living representatives are the Myxini (hagfishes), Hyperoartia (including lampreys), and the m ...
(i.e. an animal with a skull and in most cases a backbone) that has
gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
s throughout life and whose limbs, if any, are in the shape of fins. Unlike groupings such as birds or
mammals, fish are not a single
clade but a
paraphyletic collection of
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
, including
hagfish
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, ...
es,
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s,
sharks and rays,
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
,
coelacanth
The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
s, and
lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
. Indeed, lungfish and coelacanths are closer relatives of
tetrapod
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct t ...
s (such as mammals, birds,
amphibians, etc.) than of other fish such as ray-finned fish or sharks, so the
last common ancestor
In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...
of all fish is also an ancestor to tetrapods. As paraphyletic groups are no longer recognised in modern
systematic biology
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tr ...
, the use of the term "fish" as a biological group must be avoided.
Many types of
aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is any animal, whether invertebrate or vertebrate, that lives in water for most or all of its lifetime. Many insects such as mosquitoes, mayflies, dragonflies and caddisflies have aquatic larvae, with winged adults. Aquatic ani ...
s commonly referred to as "fish" are not fish in the sense given above; examples include
shellfish,
cuttlefish,
starfish,
crayfish and
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...
. In earlier times, even biologists did not make a distinction – sixteenth century natural historians classified also
seals, whales,
amphibians,
crocodiles, even
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
es, as well as a host of aquatic invertebrates, as fish.
However, according to the definition above, all mammals, including
cetaceans like whales and dolphins, are not fish. In some contexts, especially in
aquaculture, the true fish are referred to as finfish (or fin fish) to distinguish them from these other animals.
A typical fish is
ectothermic
An ectotherm (from the Greek () "outside" and () "heat") is an organism in which internal physiological sources of heat are of relatively small or of quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature.Davenport, John. Animal Life ...
, has a
streamlined
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow.
They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
body for rapid swimming, extracts oxygen from water using gills or uses an accessory breathing organ to breathe atmospheric oxygen, has two sets of paired fins, usually one or two (rarely three) dorsal fins, an anal fin, and a tail fin, has jaws, has skin that is usually covered with
scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number w ...
, and lays eggs.
Each criterion has exceptions.
Tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
,
swordfish, and some species of
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s show
some warm-blooded adaptations – they can heat their bodies significantly above ambient water temperature. Streamlining and swimming performance varies from fish such as tuna,
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
, and
jacks that can cover 10–20 body-lengths per second to species such as
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s and
rays
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gra ...
that swim no more than 0.5 body-lengths per second. Many groups of freshwater fish extract oxygen from the air as well as from the water using a variety of different structures.
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
have paired lungs similar to those of tetrapods,
gourami
Gouramis, or gouramies , are a group of freshwater anabantiform fishes that comprise the family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeasterly towards Korea. The name "gourami", of ...
s have a structure called the
labyrinth organ
The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or lab ...
that performs a similar function, while many catfish, such as ''
Corydoras
''Corydoras'' is a genus of freshwater catfish in the family Callichthyidae and subfamily Corydoradinae. The species usually have more restricted areas of endemism than other callichthyids, but the area of distribution of the entire genus almost ...
'' extract oxygen via the intestine or stomach. Body shape and the arrangement of the fins is highly variable, covering such seemingly un-fishlike forms as
seahorse
A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...
s,
pufferfish,
anglerfish, and
gulpers. Similarly, the surface of the skin may be naked (as in
moray eel
Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are f ...
s), or covered with scales of a variety of different types usually defined as
placoid
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...
(typical of sharks and rays), Scale (zoology)#Cosmoid scales, cosmoid (fossil lungfish and coelacanths), ganoid (various fossil fish but also living
gar
Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...
s and
bichir
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
s), Fish scale#Leptoid scales, cycloid, and ctenoid (these last two are found on most
bony fish). There are even fish that live mostly on land or lay their eggs on land near water. Mudskippers feed and interact with one another on mudflats and go underwater to hide in their burrows. A single undescribed species of ''Phreatobius'' has been called a true "land fish" as this worm-like catfish strictly lives among waterlogged leaf litter. Many species live in underground lakes, underground rivers or aquifers and are popularly known as cavefish.
Fish range in size from the huge whale shark to the tiny stout infantfish.
Fish
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
diversity is roughly divided equally between marine (oceanic) and freshwater ecosystems. Coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific constitute the center of diversity for marine fishes, whereas continental freshwater fishes are most diverse in large river basins of tropical rainforests, especially the Amazon Basin, Amazon, Congo Basin, Congo, and Mekong basins. More than 5,600 fish species inhabit Neotropical freshwaters alone, such that Neotropical fishes represent about 10% of all
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
species on the Earth. Exceptionally rich sites in the Amazon basin, such as Cantão State Park, can contain more freshwater fish species than occur in all of Europe.
The deepest living fish in the ocean so far found is the Mariana snailfish (''Pseudoliparis swirei'') which lives at deeps of 8,000 meters (26,200 feet) along the Mariana Trench near Guam.
The biodiversity, diversity of living fish (finfish) is unevenly distributed among the various groups, with teleosts making up the bulk of living fishes (96%), and over 50% of all
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
.
The following
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
shows the phylogeny, evolutionary relationships of all groups of living fishes (with their respective diversity
) and the four-limbed vertebrates (
tetrapods
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids (reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct therapsi ...
).
Anatomy and physiology
Respiration
Gills
![Tuna Gills in Situ 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Tuna_Gills_in_Situ_01.jpg)
Most fish exchange gases using
gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
s on either side of the pharynx. Gills consist of threadlike structures called Protein filament, filaments. Each filament contains a capillary network that provides a large surface area for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. Fish exchange gases by pulling oxygen-rich water through their mouths and pumping it over their gills. In some fish, capillary blood flows in the opposite direction to the water, causing countercurrent exchange. The gills push the oxygen-poor water out through openings in the sides of the pharynx. Some fish, like
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s and
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s, possess multiple gill openings. However,
bony fish have a single gill opening on each side. This opening is hidden beneath a protective bony cover called an operculum (fish), operculum.
Juvenile
bichir
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
s have external gills, a very primitive feature that they share with larval
amphibians.
Air breathing
Fish from multiple groups can live out of the water for extended periods. Amphibious fish such as the mudskipper can live and move about on land for up to several days, or live in stagnant or otherwise oxygen-depleted water. Many such fish can breathe air via a variety of mechanisms. The skin of anguillidae, anguillid eels may absorb oxygen directly. The buccal cavity of the electric eel may breathe air. Catfish of the families
Loricariidae
The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...
, Callichthyidae, and Scoloplacidae absorb air through their digestive tracts.
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
, with the exception of the Australian lungfish, and
bichir
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
s have paired lungs similar to those of
tetrapod
Tetrapods (; ) are four-limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids ( reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids ( pelycosaurs, extinct t ...
s and must surface to gulp fresh air through the mouth and pass spent air out through the gills. Gar and
bowfin have a vascularized swim bladder that functions in the same way. Cypriniformes, Loaches, Erythrinidae, trahiras, and many catfish breathe by passing air through the gut. Mudskippers breathe by absorbing oxygen across the skin (similar to frogs). A number of fish have evolved so-called accessory breathing organs that extract oxygen from the air. Labyrinth fish (such as
gourami
Gouramis, or gouramies , are a group of freshwater anabantiform fishes that comprise the family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeasterly towards Korea. The name "gourami", of ...
s and bettas) have a labyrinth (organ), labyrinth organ above the gills that performs this function. A few other fish have structures resembling labyrinth organs in form and function, most notably Snakehead (fish), snakeheads, Luciocephalidae, pikeheads, and the Clariidae catfish family.
Breathing air is primarily of use to fish that inhabit shallow, seasonally variable waters where the water's oxygen concentration may seasonally decline. Fish dependent solely on dissolved oxygen, such as perch and cichlids, quickly suffocate, while air-breathers survive for much longer, in some cases in water that is little more than wet mud. At the extreme, some air-breathing fish are able to survive in damp burrows for weeks without water, entering a state of aestivation (summertime hibernation) until water returns.
Air breathing fish can be divided into obligate air breathers and facultative air breathers. Obligate air breathers, such as the African lungfish, ''must'' breathe air periodically or they suffocate. Facultative air breathers, such as the catfish ''Hypostomus plecostomus'', only breathe air if they need to and will otherwise rely on their gills for oxygen. Most air breathing fish are facultative air breathers that avoid the energetic cost of rising to the surface and the fitness cost of exposure to surface predators.
Circulation
![Didactic model of a fish heart--FMVZ USP-09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Didactic_model_of_a_fish_heart--FMVZ_USP-09.jpeg)
Fish have a circulatory system, closed-loop circulatory system. The heart pumps the blood in a single loop throughout the body. In most fish, the heart consists of four parts, including two chambers and an entrance and exit.
The first part is the sinus venosus, a thin-walled sac that collects blood from the fish's veins before allowing it to flow to the second part, the Atrium (heart), atrium, which is a large muscular chamber. The atrium serves as a one-way antechamber, sends blood to the third part, Ventricle (heart), ventricle. The ventricle is another thick-walled, muscular chamber and it pumps the blood, first to the fourth part, bulbus arteriosus, a large tube, and then out of the heart. The bulbus arteriosus connects to the aorta, through which blood flows to the gills for oxygenation.
Digestion
Jaws allow fish to eat a wide variety of food, including plants and other organisms. Fish ingest food through the mouth and break it down in the esophagus. In the stomach, food is further digested and, in many fish, processed in finger-shaped pouches called pyloric caeca, which secrete digestive enzymes and absorb nutrients. Organs such as the liver and pancreas add enzymes and various chemicals as the food moves through the digestive tract. The intestine completes the process of digestion and nutrient absorption.
Excretion
As with many aquatic animals, most fish release their nitrogenous wastes as ammonia. Some of the wastes diffusion, diffuse through the gills. Blood wastes are filter (chemistry), filtered by the kidneys.
Saltwater fish tend to lose water because of osmosis. Their kidneys return water to the body. The reverse happens in freshwater fish: they tend to gain water osmotically. Their kidneys produce dilute urine for excretion. Some fish have specially adapted kidneys that vary in function, allowing them to move from freshwater to saltwater.
Scales
The scales of fish originate from the mesoderm (skin); they may be similar in structure to teeth.
Sensory and nervous system
Central nervous system
Fish typically have quite small brains relative to body size compared with other vertebrates, typically one-fifteenth the brain mass of a similarly sized bird or mammal. However, some fish have relatively large brains, most notably Mormyridae, mormyrids and
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
s, which have brains about as massive relative to body weight as birds and marsupials.
Fish brains are divided into several regions. At the front are the olfactory bulb, olfactory lobes, a pair of structures that receive and process signals from the nostrils via the two olfactory nerves. The olfactory lobes are very large in fish that hunt primarily by smell, such as hagfish, sharks, and catfish. Behind the olfactory lobes is the two-lobed telencephalon, the structural equivalent to the cerebrum in amniote, higher vertebrates. In fish the telencephalon is concerned mostly with olfaction. Together these structures form the forebrain.
Connecting the forebrain to the midbrain is the diencephalon (in the diagram, this structure is below the optic lobes and consequently not visible). The diencephalon performs functions associated with hormones and homeostasis. The pineal body lies just above the diencephalon. This structure detects light, maintains circadian rhythms, and controls color changes.
The midbrain (or mesencephalon) contains the two Midbrain#Corpora quadrigemina, optic lobes. These are very large in species that hunt by sight, such as rainbow trout and cichlids.
The hindbrain (or metencephalon) is particularly involved in swimming and balance. The cerebellum is a single-lobed structure that is typically the biggest part of the brain. Hagfish and
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s have relatively small cerebellae, while the mormyrid cerebellum is massive and apparently involved in their electric fish, electrical sense.
The brain stem (or myelencephalon) is the brain's posterior. As well as controlling some muscles and body organs, in bony fish at least, the brain stem governs respiration (physiology), respiration and osmoregulation.
Sense organs
Most fish possess highly developed sense organs. Nearly all daylight fish have color vision that is at least as good as a human's (see vision in fishes). Many fish also have chemoreceptors that are responsible for extraordinary senses of taste and smell. Although they have ears, many fish may not hear very well. Most fish have sensitive receptors that form the lateral line system, which detects gentle currents and vibrations, and senses the motion of nearby fish and prey.
The sense information obtained from the lateral line system can be considered both a sense of touch and hearing. Blind cave fish navigate almost entirely through the sensations from their lateral line system. Some fish, such as catfish and sharks, have the ampullae of Lorenzini, electroreceptors that detect weak electric currents on the order of millivolt. Other fish, like the South American electric fishes Gymnotiformes, can produce weak electric currents, which they use in navigation and social communication.
Fish orient themselves using landmarks and may use mental maps based on multiple landmarks or symbols. Fish behavior in mazes reveals that they possess spatial memory and visual discrimination.
Vision
Visual system, Vision is an important sensory system for most species of fish. Fish eyes are similar to those of terrestrial animal, terrestrial
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
s like bird vision, birds and mammals, but have a more spherical lens (anatomy), lens. Their retinas generally have both rod cell, rods and cone cell, cones (for scotopic vision, scotopic and photopic vision), and most species have colour vision. Some fish can see ultraviolet and some can see polarized light. Amongst jawless fish, the
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
has well-developed eyes, while the
hagfish
Hagfish, of the class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped, slime-producing marine fish (occasionally called slime eels). They are the only known living animals that have a skull but no vertebral column, ...
has only primitive eyespot (mimicry), eyespots. Fish vision shows adaptation to their visual environment, for example deep sea fishes have eyes suited to the dark environment.
Hearing
Hearing (sense), Hearing is an important sensory system for most species of fish. Fish sense sound using their lateral lines and their otolith, ears.
Cognition
New research has expanded preconceptions about the cognitive capacities of fish. For example, manta rays have exhibited behavior linked to self-awareness in mirror test cases. Placed in front of a mirror, individual rays engaged in contingency testing, that is, repetitive behavior aiming to check whether their reflection's behavior mimics their body movement.
Wrasses have also passed the mirror test in a 2018 scientific study.
Cases of tool use have also been noticed, notably in the Choerodon family, in archerfish and Atlantic cod.
Capacity for pain
Experiments done by William Tavolga provide evidence that fish have pain and fear responses. For instance, in Tavolga's experiments, Batrachoididae, toadfish grunted when electrically shocked and over time they came to grunt at the mere sight of an electrode.
In 2003, Scottish scientists at the University of Edinburgh and the Roslin Institute concluded that rainbow trout exhibit behaviors often associated with pain in other animals. Bee venom and acetic acid injected into the lips resulted in fish rocking their bodies and rubbing their lips along the sides and floors of their tanks, which the researchers concluded were attempts to relieve pain, similar to what mammals would do.
Neurons fired in a pattern resembling human neuronal patterns.
Professor James D. Rose of the University of Wyoming claimed the study was flawed since it did not provide proof that fish possess "conscious awareness, particularly a kind of awareness that is meaningfully like ours". Rose argues that since fish brains are so different from human brains, fish are probably not conscious in the manner humans are, so that reactions similar to human reactions to pain instead have other causes. Rose had published a study a year earlier arguing that fish cannot feel pain because their brains lack a neocortex. However, animal behaviorist Temple Grandin argues that fish could still have consciousness without a neocortex because "different species can use different brain structures and systems to handle the same functions."
Animal welfare advocates raise concerns about the possible suffering of fish caused by angling. Some countries, such as Germany, have banned specific types of fishing, and the British RSPCA now formally prosecutes individuals who are cruel to fish.
Emotion
In 2019, scientists have shown that members of the monogamous species ''Amatitlania siquia'' exhibit pessimistic behavior when they are prevented from being with their partner.
Muscular system
![Lampanyctodes hectoris (Hector's lanternfish)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Lampanyctodes_hectoris_%28Hector%27s_lanternfish%29.svg)
Most fish move by alternately contracting paired sets of muscles on either side of the backbone. These contractions form S-shaped curves that move down the body. As each curve reaches the back fin, backward force is applied to the water, and in conjunction with the fins, moves the fish forward. The fish's fins function like an airplane's flaps. Fins also increase the tail's surface area, increasing speed. The streamlined body of the fish decreases the amount of friction from the water. Since body tissue is denser than water, fish must compensate for the difference or they will sink. Many bony fish have an internal organ called a swim bladder that adjusts their buoyancy through manipulation of gases.
Endothermy
Although most fish are exclusively
ectothermic
An ectotherm (from the Greek () "outside" and () "heat") is an organism in which internal physiological sources of heat are of relatively small or of quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature.Davenport, John. Animal Life ...
, there are exceptions. The only known bony fishes (infraclass
Teleostei
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Te ...
) that exhibit Warm-blooded, endothermy are in the suborder Scombroidei – which includes the billfishes, tunas, and the butterfly kingfish, a Basal (phylogenetics), basal species of mackerel
– and also the Lampris guttatus, opah. The opah, a lampriform, was demonstrated in 2015 to use "whole-body endothermy", generating heat with its swimming muscles to warm its body while countercurrent exchange (as in respiration) minimizes heat loss. It is able to actively hunt prey such as squid and swim for long distances due to the ability to warm its entire body, including its heart, which is a trait typically found in only mammals and birds (in the form of homeothermy). In the cartilaginous fishes (class
Chondrichthyes
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. ...
), sharks of the families Lamnidae (porbeagle, mackerel, salmon, and great white sharks) and Alopiidae (thresher sharks) exhibit endothermy. The degree of endothermy varies from the billfishes, which warm only their eyes and brain, to the bluefin tuna and the porbeagle shark, which maintain body temperatures in excess of above ambient water temperatures.
Endothermy, though metabolically costly, is thought to provide advantages such as increased muscle strength, higher rates of central nervous system processing, and higher rates of digestion.
Reproductive system
![Fish ovary- FMVZ USP-27 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Fish_ovary-_FMVZ_USP-27_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Fish reproductive organs include testicles and ovary, ovaries. In most species, gonads are paired organs of similar size, which can be partially or totally fused.
There may also be a range of secondary organs that increase reproductive fitness.
In terms of spermatogonia distribution, the structure of
teleost
Teleostei (; Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of all extant species of fish. Tele ...
s testes has two types: in the most common, spermatogonia occur all along the seminiferous tubules, while in wikt:atherinomorph, atherinomorph fish they are confined to the Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal, distal portion of these structures. Fish can present cystic or semi-cystic spermatogenesis in relation to the release phase of germ cells in cysts to the seminiferous tubules Lumen (anatomy), lumen.
Fish ovaries may be of three types: gymnovarian, secondary gymnovarian or cystovarian. In the first type, the oocytes are released directly into the coelomic cavity and then enter the Ostium of Fallopian tube, ostium, then through the oviduct and are eliminated. Secondary gymnovarian ovaries shed ovum, ova into the coelom from which they go directly into the oviduct. In the third type, the oocytes are conveyed to the exterior through the oviduct.
Gymnovaries are the primitive condition found in
lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
,
sturgeon, and
bowfin. Cystovaries characterize most teleosts, where the ovary lumen has continuity with the oviduct.
Secondary gymnovaries are found in salmonids and a few other teleosts.
Oogonia development in teleosts fish varies according to the group, and the determination of oogenesis dynamics allows the understanding of maturation and fertilization processes. Changes in the Cell nucleus, nucleus, ooplasm, and the surrounding layers characterize the oocyte maturation process.
Postovulatory Ovarian follicle, follicles are structures formed after oocyte release; they do not have endocrine function, present a wide irregular lumen, and are rapidly reabsorbed in a process involving the apoptosis of follicular cells. A degenerative process called follicular atresia reabsorbs vitellogenic oocytes not spawned. This process can also occur, but less frequently, in oocytes in other development stages.
Some fish, like the California sheephead, are hermaphrodites, having both testes and ovaries either at different phases in their life cycle or, as in hamlet (fish), hamlets, have them simultaneously.
Over 97% of all known fish are oviparous,
[Peter Scott: ''Livebearing Fishes'', p. 13. Tetra Press 1997. ] that is, the eggs develop outside the mother's body. Examples of oviparous fish include
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
, goldfish, cichlids,
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
, and
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
s. In the majority of these species, fertilisation takes place outside the mother's body, with the male and female fish shedding their gametes into the surrounding water. However, a few oviparous fish practice internal fertilization, with the male using some sort of Ichthyology terms#I, intromittent organ to deliver sperm into the genital opening of the female, most notably the oviparous sharks, such as the horn shark, and oviparous rays, such as Skate (fish), skates. In these cases, the male is equipped with a pair of modified pelvic fins known as claspers.
Marine fish can produce high numbers of eggs which are often released into the open water column. The eggs have an average diameter of .
File:Oeufs002b,57.png, Egg of lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
File:Oeufs002b,54.png, Egg of catshark (mermaids' purse)
File:Oeufs002b,55.png, Egg of bullhead shark
File:Oeufs002b,56.png, Egg of chimaera
The newly hatched young of oviparous fish are called Ichthyoplankton, larvae. They are usually poorly formed, carry a large yolk sac (for nourishment), and are very different in appearance from juvenile and adult specimens. The larval period in oviparous fish is relatively short (usually only several weeks), and larvae rapidly grow and change appearance and structure (a process termed metamorphosis) to become juveniles. During this transition larvae must switch from their yolk sac to feeding on zooplankton prey, a process which depends on typically inadequate zooplankton density, starving many larvae.
In ovoviviparous fish the eggs develop inside the mother's body after internal fertilization but receive little or no nourishment directly from the mother, depending instead on the yolk. Each embryo develops in its own egg. Familiar examples of ovoviviparous fish include Guppy, guppies, angel sharks, and
coelacanth
The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
s.
Some species of fish are viviparous. In such species the mother retains the eggs and nourishes the embryos. Typically, viviparous fish have a structure analogous to the placenta seen in placental mammals, mammals connecting the mother's blood supply with that of the embryo. Examples of viviparous fish include the Embiotocidae, surf-perches, Goodeidae, splitfins, and lemon shark. Some viviparous fish exhibit oophagy, in which the developing embryos eat other eggs produced by the mother. This has been observed primarily among sharks, such as the shortfin mako and porbeagle, but is known for a few bony fish as well, such as the halfbeak ''Nomorhamphus ebrardtii''.
[Meisner, A & Burns, J: Viviparity in the Halfbeak Genera ''Dermogenys'' and ''Nomorhamphus'' (Teleostei: Hemiramphidae)" ''Journal of Morphology'' 234, pp. 295–317, 1997] Intrauterine cannibalism is an even more unusual mode of vivipary, in which the largest embryos eat weaker and smaller siblings. This behavior is also most commonly found among sharks, such as the grey nurse shark, but has also been reported for ''Nomorhamphus ebrardtii''.
Fishkeeping, Aquarists commonly refer to ovoviviparous and viviparous fish as livebearers.
Acoustic communication
Acoustic communication in fish involves the transmission of acoustic signals from one individual of a species to another. The production of sounds as a means of communication among fish is most often used in the context of feeding, aggression or courtship behaviour.
The sounds emitted can vary depending on the species and stimulus involved. Fish can produce either stridulatory sounds by moving components of the skeletal system, or can produce non-stridulatory sounds by manipulating specialized organs such as the swimbladder.
Stridulatory
![French grunts - Haemulon flavolineatum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/French_grunts_-_Haemulon_flavolineatum.jpg)
There are some species of fish that can produce sounds by rubbing or grinding their bones together. These noises produced by bone-on-bone interactions are known as 'stridulatory sounds'.
An example of this is seen in ''Haemulon flavolineatum'', a species commonly referred to as the 'French grunt fish', as it produces a grunting noise by grinding its teeth together.
This behaviour is most pronounced when the ''H. flavolineatum'' is in distress situations.
The grunts produced by this species of fishes generate a frequency of approximately 700 Hz, and last approximately 47 milliseconds.
The ''H. flavolineatum'' does not emit sounds with frequencies greater than 1000 Hz, and does not detect sounds that have frequencies greater than 1050 Hz.
In a study conducted by Oliveira et al. (2014), the longsnout seahorse, ''Hippocampus reidi'', was recorded producing two different categories of sounds; 'clicks' and 'growls'. The sounds emitted by the ''H. reidi'' are accomplished by rubbing their coronet bone across the grooved section of their neurocranium. 'Clicking' sounds were found to be primarily produced during courtship and feeding, and the frequencies of clicks were within the range of 50 Hz-800 Hz.
The frequencies were noted to be on the higher end of the range during spawning periods, when the female and male fishes were less than fifteen centimeters apart.
Growl sounds were produced when the ''H. reidi'' encountered stressful situations, such as handling by researchers.
The 'growl' sounds consist of a series of sound pulses and are emitted simultaneously with body vibrations.
Non-stridulatory
![C(flipped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/C%28flipped%29.jpg)
Some fish species create noise by engaging specialized muscles that contract and cause swimbladder vibrations.
Oyster toadfish produce loud grunting sounds by contracting muscles located along the sides of their swim bladder, known as sonic muscles
Female and male toadfishes emit short-duration grunts, often as a fright response. In addition to short-duration grunts, male toadfishes produce "boat whistle calls".
These calls are longer in duration, lower in frequency, and are primarily used to attract mates.
The sounds emitted by the ''O. tao'' have frequency range of 140 Hz to 260 Hz.
The frequencies of the calls depend on the rate at which the sonic muscles contract.
The red drum, ''Sciaenops ocellatus'', produces drumming sounds by vibrating its swimbladder.
Vibrations are caused by the rapid contraction of sonic muscles that surround the dorsal aspect of the swimbladder.
These vibrations result in repeated sounds with frequencies that range from 100 to >200 Hz.
The ''S. ocellatus'' can produce different calls depending on the stimuli involved.
The sounds created in courtship situations are different from those made during distressing events such as predatorial attacks.
Unlike the males of the ''S. ocellatus'' species, the females of this species do not produce sounds and lack sound-producing (sonic) muscles.
Diseases
Like other animals, fish suffer from diseases and parasites. To prevent disease they have a variety of defenses. ''Non-specific'' defenses include the skin and scales, as well as the mucus layer secreted by the Epidermis (skin), epidermis that traps and inhibits the growth of microorganisms. If pathogens breach these defenses, fish can develop an inflammation, inflammatory response that increases blood flow to the infected region and delivers white blood cells that attempt to destroy pathogens. Specific defenses respond to particular pathogens recognised by the fish's body, i.e., an immune response. In recent years, vaccines have become widely used in aquaculture and also with ornamental fish, for example furunculosis vaccines in farmed
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
and koi herpes virus in koi.
Some species use cleaner fish to remove external parasites. The best known of these are the bluestreak cleaner wrasses of the genus ''Labroides'' found on coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. These small fish maintain so-called "cleaning stations" where other fish congregate and perform specific movements to attract the attention of the cleaners. Cleaning behaviors have been observed in a number of fish groups, including an interesting case between two cichlids of the same genus, ''Orange chromide, Etroplus maculatus'', the cleaner, and the much larger ''Etroplus suratensis''.
Immune system
Immune organs vary by type of fish. In the jawless fish (lampreys and hagfish), true lymphoid organs are absent. These fish rely on regions of lymphoid tissue within other organs to produce immune cells. For example, erythrocytes, macrophages and plasma cells are produced in the anterior kidney (or pronephros) and some areas of the gut (where granulocytes mature.) They resemble primitive bone marrow in hagfish. Cartilaginous fish (sharks and rays) have a more advanced immune system. They have three specialized organs that are unique to
Chondrichthyes
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. ...
; the epigonal organs (lymphoid tissue similar to mammalian bone) that surround the gonads, the Leydig's organ within the walls of their esophagus, and a spiral valve in their intestine. These organs house typical immune cells (granulocytes, lymphocytes and plasma cells). They also possess an identifiable thymus and a well-developed spleen (their most important immune organ) where various lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages develop and are stored. Chondrostean fish (sturgeons, paddlefish, and bichirs) possess a major site for the production of granulocytes within a mass that is associated with the meninges (membranes surrounding the central nervous system.) Their heart is frequently covered with tissue that contains lymphocytes, reticular cells and a small number of macrophages. The chondrostean kidney is an important hemopoietic organ; where erythrocytes, granulocytes, lymphocytes and macrophages develop.
Like chondrostean fish, the major immune tissues of bony fish (or teleostei) include the kidney (especially the anterior kidney), which houses many different immune cells. In addition, teleost fish possess a thymus, spleen and scattered immune areas within mucosal tissues (e.g. in the skin, gills, gut and gonads). Much like the mammalian immune system, teleost erythrocytes, neutrophils and granulocytes are believed to reside in the spleen whereas lymphocytes are the major cell type found in the thymus. In 2006, a lymphatic system similar to that in mammals was described in one species of teleost fish, the zebrafish. Although not confirmed as yet, this system presumably will be where naive (unstimulated) T cells accumulate while waiting to encounter an antigen.
B and T lymphocytes bearing immunoglobulins and T cell receptors, respectively, are found in all jawed fishes. Indeed, the adaptive immune system as a whole adaptive immune system#Evolution, evolved in an ancestor of all jawed vertebrates.
Conservation
The 2006 International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN IUCN Red List, Red List names 1,173 fish species that are threatened with extinction. Included are species such as Gadus morhua, Atlantic cod, Cyprinodon diabolis, Devil's Hole pupfish,
coelacanth
The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...
s, and great white sharks. Because fish live underwater they are more difficult to study than terrestrial animals and plants, and information about fish populations is often lacking. However, freshwater fish seem particularly threatened because they often live in relatively small water bodies. For example, the Devil's Hole pupfish occupies only a single pool.
Overfishing
![Whale shark Georgia aquarium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Whale_shark_Georgia_aquarium.jpg)
Overfishing is a major threat to edible fish such as cod and
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
. Overfishing eventually causes Population dynamics of fisheries, population (known as Fish stocks, stock) collapse because the survivors cannot produce enough young to replace those removed. Such commercial extinction does not mean that the species is extinct, merely that it can no longer sustain a fishery.
One well-studied example of fishery collapse is the Pacific sardine ''Sadinops sagax caerulues'' fishery off the California coast. From a 1937 peak of the catch steadily declined to only in 1968, after which the fishery was no longer economically viable.
The main tension between fisheries science and the fishing industry is that the two groups have different views on the resiliency of fisheries to intensive fishing. In places such as Scotland, Newfoundland, and Alaska the fishing industry is a major employer, so governments are predisposed to support it. On the other hand, scientists and conservationists push for stringent protection, warning that many stocks could be wiped out within fifty years.
Habitat destruction
A key stress on both freshwater and marine ecosystems is habitat degradation including water pollution, the building of dams, removal of water for use by humans, and the introduction of invasive species, exotic species. An example of a fish that has become endangered because of habitat change is the pallid sturgeon, a North American freshwater fish that lives in rivers damaged by human activity.
Exotic species
Introduction of invasive species, non-native species occurs in many habitats. A notable case in point is the Mediterranean Sea which has become a major ‘hotspot’ of exotic invaders since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Since that time a thousand marine species of all sorts - fishes, seaweeds, invertebrates - originating from the Red Sea and more broadly from the Indo-Pacific have crossed the Canal from south to north to settle in the eastern Mediterranean Basin. Nowadays many of these tropical migrants, also called Lessepsian species, have extended their range towards the west, obviously favoured by the general warming of the Mediterranean. The resulting change in biodiversity is without precedent in human memory and is accelerating: a long-term cross-Basin survey engaged by the Mediterranean Science Commission recently documented that in just twenty years, from 2001 till 2021, no less than 107 alien fish species have reached the Mediterranean from both the tropical Atlantic and the Red Sea, which is more than the total recorded during the whole 130 preceding years.
Another mode of introduction for marine species is transport across thousands of kms on ship hulls or in ballast waters. Examples abound of marine organisms being transported in Ballast water discharge and the environment, ballast water, among them the invasive comb jelly ''Mnemiopsis leidyi'', the dangerous bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae'', or the fouling zebra mussel. The Mediterranean and Black Seas, with their high volume shipping from exotic harbors, are particularly impacted by this problem.
Deliberate introductions of species with market potential are another frequent vector: one of the best studied examples is the introduction of the Nile perch into Lake Victoria in the 1960s. Nile perch gradually exterminated the lake's 500 Endemism, endemic cichlid species. Some of them now survive in captive breeding programmes, but others are probably extinct. Carp, Channidae, snakeheads, tilapia, perch, European perch, brown trout, rainbow trout, and sea lampreys are other examples of fish that have caused problems by being introduced into alien environments.
Importance to humans
Economic
Throughout history, humans have used fish as food, fish as a food source for dietary protein. Historically and today, most fish harvested for human consumption has come by means of catching wild fish. However, fish farming, which has been practiced since about 3,500 BCE in ancient China, is becoming increasingly important in many nations. Overall, about one-sixth of the world's protein is estimated to be provided by fish.
That proportion is considerably elevated in some developing nations and regions heavily dependent on seafood. In a similar manner, fish have been tied to primary industry and associated food industry, food, fodder, feed, pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical secondary industry, production and service industries.
Catching fish for the purpose of food or sport is known as fishing, while the organized effort by humans to catch fish is called a fishery (which also describes the fishing ground, area where such enterprise operates). Fisheries are a huge global business and provide income for millions of people.
The annual yield from all fisheries worldwide is about 154 million tons, with popular species including herring, cod, anchovy,
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
, flounder, and
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
. However, the term fishery is broadly applied, and includes more organisms than just fish, such as mollusca, mollusks and crustaceans, which are often collectively called "
shellfish" when used as food.
Recreation
![Vendor in Fish Market - Sylhet - Bangladesh (12968716714)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Vendor_in_Fish_Market_-_Sylhet_-_Bangladesh_%2812968716714%29.jpg)
Fishkeeping
Fish have been recognized as a source of beauty for almost as long as used for food, appearing in cave art, being raised as ornamental fish in ponds, and displayed in aquariums in homes, offices, or public settings.
Recreational fishing
''Recreational fishing'' is fishing primarily for pleasure or competition; it can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit, or artisanal fishing, which is fishing primarily for food. The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a fishing rod, rod, fishing reel, reel, fishing line, line, fish hook, hooks, and any one of a wide range of bait (luring substance), baits. Recreational fishing is particularly popular in North America and Europe and state, provincial, and federal government agencies actively management target fish species. Angling is a method of fishing, specifically the practice of catching fish by means of an "angle" (hook). Anglers must select the right hook, cast net, cast accurately, and retrieve at the right speed while considering water and weather conditions, species, fish response, time of the day, and other factors.
Culture
![Matsya painting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Matsya_painting.jpg)
Fish themes have symbolic significance in many religions. In ancient Mesopotamia, fish offerings were made to the gods from the very earliest times.
Fish were also a major symbol of Enki, the god of water.
Fish frequently appear as filling motifs in cylinder seals from the First Babylonian dynasty, Old Babylonian ( 1830 BC – 1531 BC) and Neo-Assyrian Empire, Neo-Assyrian (911–609 BC) periods.
Starting during the Kassites, Kassite Period ( 1600 BC – 1155 BC) and lasting until the early Achaemenid Empire, Persian Period (550–30 BC), healers and exorcists dressed in ritual garb resembling the bodies of fish.
During the Seleucid Empire, Seleucid Period (312–63 BC), the legendary Babylonian culture hero Oannes (mythology), Oannes, described by Berossus, was said to have dressed in the skin of a fish.
Fish were sacred to the Syrian goddess Atargatis
and, during her festivals, only her priests were permitted to eat them.
![Ichthus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Ichthus.svg)
In the Book of Jonah, a work of Jewish literature probably written in the fourth century BC, the central figure, a prophet named Jonah, is swallowed by a giant fish after being thrown overboard by the crew of the ship he is travelling on.
The fish later vomits Jonah out on shore after three days.
This book was later included as part of the Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, and a version of the story it contains is summarized in Surah 37:139-148 of the Quran. Early Christianity, Early Christians used the ''ichthys'', a symbol of a fish, to represent Jesus,
because the Greek word for fish, ΙΧΘΥΣ Ichthys, could be used as an acronym for "Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ" (Iesous Christos, Theou Huios, Soter), meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour".
The gospels also refer to "fishers of men" and feeding the multitude. In the Dharma (Buddhism), dhamma of Buddhism, the fish symbolize happiness as they have complete freedom of movement in the water. Often drawn in the form of Asian carp, carp which are regarded in the Orient as sacred on account of their elegant beauty, size and life-span.
Among the deity, deities said to take the form of a fish are Ika-Roa of the Polynesians, Dagon#Fish-god tradition, Dagon of various ancient Semitic peoples, the shark-gods of Hawaii, Hawaii and Matsya of the Hindus. The astrology, astrological symbol Pisces (astrology), Pisces is based on a constellation of the Pisces (constellation), same name, but there is also a second fish constellation in the night sky, Piscis Austrinus.
Fish feature prominently in art and literature, in movies such as ''Finding Nemo'' and books such as ''The Old Man and the Sea''. Large fish, particularly sharks, have frequently been the subject of Horror film, horror movies and Thriller (genre), thrillers, most notably the novel ''Jaws (novel), Jaws'', which spawned a series of films of the Jaws (film), same name that in turn inspired similar films or parodies such as ''Shark Tale'' and ''Snakehead Terror''. Piranhas are shown in a similar light to sharks in films such as ''Piranha (1978 film), Piranha''; however, contrary to popular belief, the red-bellied piranha is actually a generally timid scavenger species that is unlikely to harm humans. Legends of half-human, half-fish mermaids have featured in folklore, including the stories of Hans Christian Andersen.
Terminology
"Fish" or "fishes"
Though often used interchangeably, in biology these words have different meanings. ''Fish'' is used as a singular noun, or as a plural to describe multiple individuals from a single species. ''Fishes'' is used to describe different species or species groups.
Thus a pond would be said to contain 120 fish if all were from a single species or 120 fishes if these included a mix of several species. The distinction is similar to that between people and peoples.
"True fish" or "finfish"
* In biology, the term ''fish'' is most strictly used to describe any animal with a Vertebral column, backbone,
gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
s throughout life, and limbs (if any) in the shape of fins. Many types of
aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is any animal, whether invertebrate or vertebrate, that lives in water for most or all of its lifetime. Many insects such as mosquitoes, mayflies, dragonflies and caddisflies have aquatic larvae, with winged adults. Aquatic ani ...
s with common names ending in "fish" are not fish in this Fish#Diversity, sense; examples include
shellfish,
cuttlefish,
starfish,
crayfish and
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...
. In earlier times, even biologists did not make a distinction – sixteenth century natural historians classified also
seals, whales,
amphibians,
crocodiles, even
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
es, as well as a host of aquatic invertebrates, as fish.
* In fisheries, the term ''fish'' is used as a collective term, and includes mollusks, crustaceans and any
aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is any animal, whether invertebrate or vertebrate, that lives in water for most or all of its lifetime. Many insects such as mosquitoes, mayflies, dragonflies and caddisflies have aquatic larvae, with winged adults. Aquatic ani ...
which is harvested.
* The strict biological definition of a fish, above, is sometimes called a ''true fish''. True fish are also referred to as ''finfish'' or ''fin fish'' to distinguish them from other aquatic life harvested in fisheries or aquaculture.
"Shoal" or "school"
![School of Pterocaesio chrysozona in Papua New Guinea 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/School_of_Pterocaesio_chrysozona_in_Papua_New_Guinea_1.jpg)
An assemblage of fish merely using some localised resource such as food or nesting sites is known simply as an ''aggregation''. When fish come together in an interactive, social grouping, then they may be forming either a ''shoal'' or a ''school'' depending on the degree of organisation. A ''shoal'' is a loosely organised group where each fish swims and forages independently but is attracted to other members of the group and adjusts its behaviour, such as swimming speed, so that it remains close to the other members of the group. ''Schools'' of fish are much more tightly organised, synchronising their swimming so that all fish move at the same speed and in the same direction. Shoaling and schooling behaviour is believed to provide a variety of advantages.
Examples:
* Cichlids congregating at Lek (mating arena), lekking sites form an ''aggregation''.
* Many minnows and characins form ''shoals''.
* Anchovies, herrings and silversides are classic examples of ''schooling'' fish.
The most common collective nouns for a group of fish in general are school and shoal. Both the words have evolved from the same common Dutch root 'schole' meaning a troop or crowd. While the words "school" and "shoal" have different meanings within biology, the distinctions are often ignored by non-specialists who treat the words as synonyms. Thus speakers of British English commonly use "shoal" to describe any grouping of fish, and speakers of American English commonly use "school" just as loosely.
See also
Notes
References
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Further reading
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* Moyle, Peter B. (1993
''Fish: An Enthusiast's Guide'' University of California Press. – good lay text.
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''UCTV'' interview
External links
ANGFA– Illustrated database of freshwater fishes of Australia and New Guinea
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FishBase online– Comprehensive database with information on over 29,000 fish species
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Philippines Fishes– Database with thousands of Philippine Fishes photographed in natural habitat
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United Nation– Fisheries and Aquaculture Department: Fish and seafood utilization
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections– Digital collection of freshwater and marine fish images
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{{good article
Fish,
Aquatic ecology
Fishing, Fish
Ichthyology
Seafood
Obsolete vertebrate taxa
Paraphyletic groups