The skeleton of the black bass (1900) (14586465960)

Fish bone is any

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

of a

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

. Fish bone also includes the bony, delicate parts of the skeleton of bony fish, such as ribs and fin rays, but especially the ossification of connective tissue lying transversely inclined backwards to the ribs between the muscle segments and having no contact with the spine. Not all fish have fish bones in this sense; for instance, eels and

anglerfish The anglerfish are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes (). They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified luminescent fin ray (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish. The luminescence ...

do not. There are several series of fish bones: Epineuralia, Epicentralia, Epipleuralia and Myorhabdoi. Fish bones support the core muscles without inhibiting their motility. In cuisine, fish bones are usually removed and not eaten. Because of their slim, tapered shape they may get caught in the

esophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...

and cause pain and will have to be removed by a doctor. Fish bones have been used to

bioremediate Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi, and plants), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, water, soil, flue gasses, industrial effluent ...

lead from contaminated soil.

References

* Patterson C and Johnson GD (1995
''The intermuscular bones and ligaments of teleostean fishes''
Smithsonian contributions to zoology (USA). Fish anatomy {{bony-fish-stub

See also

References