Vertebrate Diversity – Fish Chapter 16
What is a fish?
An aquatic vertebrate with gills, appendages, if present in form of fins, and usually
skin with scales of dermal origin
Ancestor of tetrapods found within one group of fishes (lobbed finned)
“a fish is an aquatic vertebrate with gills and with limbs in the shape of fins”
Fish are all vertebrates that are not tetrapods
Fish – paraphyletic collection of taxa – Jawless, Jawed cartilaginous, Jawed bony
fish
Phylogenetic tree of the
chordates, suggesting
their probable origin
and relationships.
Fishes
Graphic representation of the family tree
of fishes, showing the evolution of major
groups through geologic time.
We are going to look at main groups -
Agnatha
“Agnathans” – without jaw
Hagfish
Ostracoderms - Extinct
Lamprey
Extinct jawless fishes : Ostracoderms
• From the late Cambrian to Devonian
periods.
• Ostracoderms were armored with bone in
their dermis, and some had paired fins
while others did not.
• Presence of a head shield - Some
consider them more advanced than living
Agnathans
Living jawless fishes: Cyclostomata
Elongated, no scales, +0.5 m long
• Entirely marine, cold water, usually in deep
seas
• Mucous glands –unique feature –protect
against predation
• No vertebrae, simple kidneys
• Single semi-circular canal on each side of
the head
• Single nasal opening, connects to pharynx
and gill slits
• Low blood pressure –has auxiliary hearts
in the liver and tail.
• Skin used to make leather ‘eelskin’
Hagfishes feed on dead or dying animals using their toothed, keratinized plates on their tongue
Living jawless fishes: Cyclostomata
• ~ 41 species
• Some parasitic and they often feed on fish
Petromyzon marinus
Feeding
Almost all parasitic
Mouth at bottom of oral hood, a unique
feature in lampreys
Attach to host by suction, scrape a wound
through the skin
‘Teeth’ are keratin conical spines
Also has spines on tongue like structure
Feeds mostly on body fluids
Secretes anti coagulant
Living jawless fishes: Cyclostomata
Reproduction
• Nonparasitic adult lampreys do not feed, they spawn and die shortly after because their digestive tract degenerates.
• Anadromous
• Females produce 1000s of eggs
• Male fertilizes them as they are laid
• Leave the nest about a week later
• Carried downstream
• Spend years in burrows in sheltered banks as filter feeders
• Adult life only two years or less
Petromyzon marinus
“Gnathostomata” – vertebrates having jaws - Placoderms
• From Silurian to Devonian periods.
• Placoderms were one of the first jawed vertebrates, covered
with diamond-shaped scales or large plates of bones.
• Most diverse vertebrates of their era
• Size up to 8 m
• Some lineages became adapted to freshwater and estuaries
• Already had myelin sheaths
• Likely that some gave live birth
• Myomeres primitive –like lampreys
• Most lacked true teeth – bony plates
“Gnathostomata” – vertebrates having jaws - Acanthodians
• ACANTHODIANS
• Well developed paired fins
• Wide variety –some related to Osteichthyes, others to
Chondrichthyes
• Lived from late Ordivician to early Permian
• Started as marine, but became predominantly freshwater
• Recognisable fish shape with heterocercal caudal fin
• Small
• More pairs of fins than modern fish
• Gaping mouths with shark-like teeth
• But some were toothless, likely planktivorous filter feeders
Jaws arise from branchial arches
• Same material
• Developed from first mandibular arch
• Common ancestor of Agnatha and Gnathostomata had a
pair of branchial arches in ‘jaw’ position
• Jaw is the modification of anterior pharyngeal arches
• Modern spiracle in some fishes is remnant of the
ancestral first gill slit
Why jaws from gill arches?
• Gnathostomes were more active
• Needed pumping mechanism for higher water flow
• Branchial muscles already suited for this purpose
• Mandibular arch evolved into jaws for forceful
ventilation
• Also stopped water exiting mouth fresh water over
gills
• Arch had to become larger and thicker.
Cartilaginous fishes: Chondrichthyes
• ~ 1200 living species in the clade
Chondrichthyes.
• They have well-developed sense organs,
powerful jaws, swimming musculature and
cartilaginous skeleton.
• Chondrichthyes is subdivided into two clades:
Elasmobranchii (sharks, skates and rays) and
Holocephali (Chimaeras).
Cartilaginous fishes: Chondrichthyes
• ~ 1150 species in Elasmobranchii and
approximately 48 species of Chimaeras.
CHONDRICHTHYES:
One major clade of jawed vertebrates
Cartilaginous skeletons
Sharks, rays, and chimaera
Neoselachi (new shark)
Holocephali (whole head)
SHARKS
GENERAL CHARACTERS:
Diversity of size
Mainly carnivores
Skeleton
Skin
Vision
Chemo / Electroreception
INTEGRATION OF SENSES
Smell
Vibration
Vision
Electroreception
FEEDING
Versatile –can adapt strategies
Kill outright or bleed to death
Hold tight or bite and release
Suction feeding
Filter feeding
REPRODUCTION
Internal fertilization
Claspers, or wrapping round female
body
Clasper inserted into cloaca
Sperm injected via ‘clasper groove’
Helped by seawater pumped through
a ‘siphon sac’
Male may hold on to female by biting
Some social gathering
Development
Oviparity
Viviparity
BATOIDEA –
SKATES AND RAYS
MORPHOLOGY:
Adpated to bottom dwelling
Dorsally flattened, enlarged pectoral fins
Allows more surface for Ampullae of lorenzini
Ambush hunters
Flat plates as teeth, for crushing shells
Some are water column hunters
Or filter feeders
SKATES vs RAYS:
Skates have long, thick tail stalk
Two dorsal fin and caudal fin
Some skates have specialized tissues for electric discharge
Rays –whipliketail stalk,
Fins replaced by barbs.
Skates –oviparous (mermaids purse)
Rays –viviparous
HOLOCEPHALI
GENERAL
Mostly deep water
Swim with ‘sinusoidal’ movements
Males and females meet only for mating
Slow growing
Low reproductive rate
Oviporous
UNIQUE FEATURES:
Four gill openings covered by a single flap
No spiracle
Reduced teeth
Rostral extensions –mechanoand electrosensors
Soft-substrate bottom feeders
THREATS AND CONSERVATION
“BIG FIERCE ANIMALS ARE RARE”
Life history
Low reproductive rates
Habitat can’t support large numbers (but……)
Ecological importance
HABITAT LOSS
Nursery areas in shallow coastal waters
Subject to disturbance
FISHING
Finning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwTQTKI6IU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO7hvOtYnck
Food –often false marketing
Bather protection
