Fish

fish diversity

1. Fish Geronimo R. Rosario

2. Fish - is a cold-blooded aquatic vertebrate breathing by means of gills, with paired appendages in the form of fins and with a body covering of scales. Fish  is any member of a  paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all  gill- bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack  limbs  with  digits. Fish

3. Although fish are vertebrates - like humans, birds, cats, dogs and elephants - they are also almost like an alien in a lot of ways. Fish are designed to live in water. They move through the water and balance not with hands and feet but with fins. For most fish , they breathe not through lungs but by using gills to extract oxygen from the water. They are cold-blooded, with their body temperature usually the same as the surrounding water. And while we can survive in their world with the help of wetsuits and breathing equipment or submarines, they can't live in our world - they are literally like a fish out of water. What makes a fish a fish?

4. Ectothermic Vertebrates Have scales Swim with fins Almost all exclusively aquatic Filter oxygen from water over gills General Charcteristics

5. Moonfish or Opah ( Lampris guttatus ) is the first warm-blooded fish ever discovered. Most fish are ectotherms , meaning they require heat from the environment to stay toasty. The opah , as an endotherm , keeps its own temperature elevated even as it dives to chilly depths of 1,300 feet (396 meters) in temperate and tropical oceans around the world . First warm-blooded fish The opah , also known as the moonfish, has relatively small red fins decorating its large, round body, which can grow up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. These fins, which flap rapidly as the fish swims, turn out to be important in generating body heat for the opah .

6. Ichthyology – study of fishes Also known as  Fish Science , is the branch of  biology  devoted to the study of  fish. This includes bony fishes ( Osteichthyes ), cartilaginous fish ( Chondrichthyes ), and jawless fish ( Agnatha ). While a large number of species have been discovered and described, approximately 250 new species are officially described by science each year. According to Fishbase , 34,300 species of fish had been described as of October 2015 Ichthyology

7. Class Agnatha – Jawless Fish Class Chondrichthyes – Cartilagenous Fish Class Osteichthyes – Bony Fish Classification of Fishes

8. Earth’s surface- 510M km2 Ocean covers- 361 M km2 (70.8%) Freshwater- 0.0093% About 34,300 species of fish ( 58.2%- marine, 33.1%- freshwater) Marine - deep benthic (6.4%) deep pelagic (5.0%) Epipelagic (1.3%) Shallow cold (5.6%) Shallow warm (39.9%) Diadromous (0.6%) Freshwater- primary (33.1%) Secondary ( 8.1%) 4 out of 10 live in freshwater Formation of new species is higher in freshwater habitats than in seawater Fish Facts

9. Mammals - 5,513   (8.16%) Birds - 10,425   (15.43 %) Reptiles - 10,038   (14.85 %) Amphibians - 7,302   (10.81%) Fishes - 34,300   (50.76%) Total- 67,578 Percentage composition of vertebrates

10. Lake Titicaca (South America) –3812 m. world’s highest lake Marianas Trench- 11 km Desert springs Caves Thermal vents Under antartic ice Diversity of habitats

11. Jaws present or absent Size Paedocypris progenitica ( Cyprinidae ) Indonesia- 7.6 mm adult size Trimmatom nanus ( Gobidae ), Australia– 8 mm adult size Pandaka pygmaea ( Gobidae ), Philippines- 10 mm adult size Rhincodon typus ( Rhicodontidae ) whale shark- 12.65m Change in ontogeny ( history and development of the individual organism) Blue fin tuna hatches from 5mm egg to 14 ft adult size Diversity of forms