Day 20 Fish: Osteichthyes

Osteichthyes

The Bony Fish

-There are over 23,000 species of bony fish

-96% of all fish and about half of all vertebrates or bony fish

Characteristics of Osteichthyes

-Cycloid scales- smooth, made of bone but have skin over them

-Ctenoid scales- have tiny spins on their exposed boarder

-Operculum or Gill Cover- a flap of bony plates that protects the gills

-Usually homocercal- The lobes of the tail fin are the same size

-Fin rays- spins that support the fin

-Terminal mouth- Mouth at the end of the body unlike the ventral mouth of the chondrichthyes

-Swim Bladder- Gas filled sac just above the stomach to adjust buoyancy

-Needed since bones are heavier than cartilage.

-Chondrichthyes do not have swim bladders. If a shark stops swimming, it sinks. The swim bladder of bony fish allows them to hover in place in the water.

Kate Terbush

There are many Fish body shapes. Here are just a few.

Stream line for swimming

Example: Tuna

Laterally compressed for slow swimming around corral but can still have a burst of speed

Example: Angel Fish

Enjoy this live feed of the reef exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Look for the flattened body shapes of reef fish.

Live Feed of Reef Exhibit at Aquarium

Demersal- Dorsoventrally flattened for life on the bottom

Example: Flounder

Elongated for hiding in rocks or holes

Example: Moray Eel

Then the specialized body shapes like sea horses

Example: Leafy Sea Dragon

SciShow: Seahorses immune system

Watch this video on Sea Horses. Create a box in your sketchbook, title it "Seahorses" and write down interesting things that you learn from the video and include an image in your sketchbook.

Mud Skippers are another great example of specialized body shapes.

BBC: Mudskippers

Watch and enjoy this amazing fish.

Also the Stonefish

Adopt a fish assignment

-Choose a species of marine fish (must be marine).

-You are going to draw that fish or print a picture of it and write all about it. Write where it lives (location in the world), what habitat it lives in, what it eats, what eats it, and an interesting fact about that fish. Next class you are going to teach the class about the fish you adopted.

EVERYONE in the class has to choose a different species of marine fish. Here is the link to the Fish signup sheet

Jonathan Bird: Grouper and the Cleaning Station

Watch and enjoy this Johnathan Bird video.

Jonathan Bird: Venomous Fish

Watch this Johnathan Bird video on Venomous Fish. Create a box or separate section in your sketchbook and title it "Venomous Fish". Take notes, write down the name of each venomous fish from the video and a little fact about it. You can include pictures but you do not have to.

Jonathan Bird: Wolf fish

Watch and enjoy this short wolffish video.

BBC: Sarcastic Fringhead

Watch and enjoy this amazing fish.

Jonathan Bird: Anemone Fish

Watch Jonathan Bird video on anemone fish. Create a box or separate section in your sketchbook and title it "Anemone Fish". Take notes, write down anything you might find interesting and include a picture.