Jawless fishes powerpoint

1. The Jawless Fishes
Class Agnatha

2. •long, eel-like bodies
•lack paired fins
•cartilage endoskeleton
•gill slits with no operculum
(covering)

3. •no jaws
•circular mouths – cannot close
•sharp teeth
•rasping tongue – tears hole in
prey and sucks out blood and
body fluids

4. •less than 50 species
•most primitive fish
•skin sold as “eelskin” leather

5. Examples
Hagfish:
•burrow in mud
•eat worms or scavenge on dead
& dying fish
•have tentacles around their
mouth
•protection = slime

6. Examples
Lampreys:
•usually parasitic
•great sense of smell to find prey
•covered with a poisonous slime
•major problem in
Great Lakes