GENERAL CHARATERISTICS OF AGNATHA

1. Eel-like animals with circular mouth, slimy, scale less skin and without jaw and unpaired fins
with slender cartilaginous fin rays.

2. The brain is encased in a cartilaginous cranium.

3. Pouched gills supported by cartilagi-nous branchial basket.

4. Notochord, the chief axial support for the body, persists throughout life and never replaced by
vertebrae.

5. Nerves are non-myelinated.

6. Nasal organ impaired, no sympathetic nervous system, no conus arteriosus, no distinct

pancreas, no spleen, no genital ducts.

Class Petromyzontia: (lamprey)

1. Comprises widely distributed eel-like, slimy, soft-skinned, scale less agnathans— known
variously as lampreys, lamper eels, lamperus, sand pride etc.—belong to a single family
Petromyzontidae consisting of eight genera. They are predators on fishes, turtles etc. remaining
attached to their body.

2. Most lampreys live in fresh water, but some spend their life in the ocean and return to fresh
water only to reproduce.

3. The head and trunk are nearly cylin-drical, with the side to side compressed tail region. Mouth
is round, encircled by a large basin-like depressed buccal funnel. Inside the buccal funnel are
radiating rows of yellow, horny teeth. At the bottom of the buccal funnel, just below the mouth,
is a small tongue, bearing horny teeth.
4. A nasohypophysial sac opens by a single nostril on the dorsal surface of the head.

5. In the membranous labyrinth semicir-cular canals are two.

6. The lateral line sense organs consists of isolated pits opening at the surface.

7. The paired eyes without eyelids are covered by a transparent area of skin.

8. Pharynx ends blindly, and from a branchial basket little behind the eye. On the sides of the
basket are seven pairs of small apertures, the gill pouches opening sepa-rately. Numerous gill
lamellae are present on the inner surfaces of the gill pouches.

9. Paired appendages are absent, but two approximately equal dorsal fins, and a caudal fin
present; the second dorsal fin is continuous with the caudal fin.

10. The stomach is absent; a typhlosole present in the intestine.

11. Liver is a large, bilobed organ; gall bladder and bile duct almost entirely absent in adult but
present in larval stage.

12. Spleen absent.

13. Pancreas is represented only by cells embedded in the wall of intestine and in liver.

14. Heart two-chambered.

15. The mesonephric kidneys are drained by pronephric ducts which carry only urine.

16. Genital ducts absent and the gametes pass from the gonads to the coelom.

17. Fertilization external, the adults die after spawning.

18. Ammocoete larva is eel-shaped, lacks specialised feeding mechanism of adult and possesses
endostyle for food trapping.

19. Rudimentary vertebrae are present in the form of small cartilages on each side of the
notochord, two pairs to each metamere.

20. Metameres are ‘W’-shaped.

21. Ninth and tenth cranial nerves not enclosed in cranium.

Examples: Petromyzon, Lampetra, Entosphenus, Ichthyomyzon, Geotria, Mordacia, etc.

Class Myxinoidea: (hagfish)

1. Exclusively marine, ‘slime eels’ or ‘hag fishes’ descend up to a depth of more than 300
fathoms (540 metres). Some adults are nonparasitic, and most remain attached to muddy bottom
where they rest temporarily. They feed on dead or dying animals or prey upon living polychaetes
and priapulids.

2. Body cylindrical, 40 to 80 cm long, producing immense amount of slime from the slime
glands.

3. Buccal cavity large but the mouth is not expanded into a funnel.

4. Mouth and nostril are surrounded by tentacles.

5. Single median palatine tooth above the oral aperture and two rows of smaller teeth arising
from the dental plate on the tongue.
6. The terminal nostril opens into a tubular nasal duct leading to the olfactory organ and is
continuous with the nasal duct opening into the buccal cavity, just anterior to the velum.

7. A narrow caudal fin surrounds the end of tail.

8. External branchial aperture may be one to fourteen pairs. Each branchial aper-ture
communicates by a short efferent duct with one of the gill pouches which is again connected
with the pharynx by another tube.

9. There is no trace of neural arch in trunk but in the posterior part of the caudal region both
neural canal and notochord are enclosed in a continuous cartilaginous plate. The roof of the’
skull is entirely membra-nous. Spinal cord is covered with fibrous tissue only.

10. The intestine is wide. Liver consists of separate anterior and posterior portions, the ducts of
which open separately in gall blad-der. A pancreas-like organ, the insular organ’ present. No
definite spleen, but blood forming lymphoid tissue is found scattered in the sub mucosa of gut.

11. Pronephros is retained in adult myxinoids but mesonephros is the func-tional kidney
retaining primitive segmental arrangement.

12. Olfactory lobes large, ventricle reduced and midbrain smaller than that in lamprey.

13. The ventral and dorsal roots of spinal nerves united.

14. The eyes are vestigeal, sunk beneath the skin.

15. Single semicircular canal having an ampulla at each end in the membranous labyrinth.

16. Lateral line sense organ lacking and the pineal organ is absent.

17. Sexes are separate.

18. Larval stage and development un-known.

19. They are the only vertebrates to resemble marine invertebrates in having blood that is
isosmotic to sea water.

Examples: Myxine, Paramyxine, Eptatretus (= Bdellostoma), etc.

SUPERCLASS GNATHOSTOMATA:

Gnathostomes include all vertebrates with upper and lower jaws. The group embraces a wide
range of animals starting from fish at the lowest rung of the evolutionary ladder, the last rung
being occupied by anthropoid apes. The jaws were probably derived from the paired anterior gill
bars and the gnathostomes evolved from a fish-like ancestor.

Gnathostomes have been divided into seven classes. The primitive Placodermi are extinct. The
classes Chondrichthyes, and Osteichthyes are grouped as Pisces or fishes having similar
characters due to their primary aquatic adaptation. The last four classes—Amphibia, Reptilia,
Aves and Mammalia—are tetrapod’s having common features acquired for terrestrial life.

The paired appendages, the fins supported by dermal fin rays in fishes, an adaptation for aquatic
life have been replaced by pentadactyl limbs to carry weight of the body and also to function as
locomotory organs in the tetrapod’s. Gills, the aquatic respiratory organs, lost their utility in
terrestrial forms and lungs capable of utilizing atmospheric oxygen, evolved.

Shifting from aquatic to terrestrial life exposed the migrants to varied life conditions, the end
result of which is the appearance of numerous kinds of animals of’ today, both terrestrial and
aquatic, the latter secondarily adopted in their present environment.

PISCES: CHARACTERS AND CLASSIFICATION

The Superclass Pisces (L. Piscis = fish) are the truly jawed vertebrates. They have organs of
respiration and locomotion related to a permanently aquatic life. The respiratory organs are the
gills and the organs of locomotion are paired and impaired fins. All are poikilothermous.

General Characters:
1. Aquatic, either freshwater or marine, herbivorous or carnivorous, cold blooded, oviparous or
ovoviviparous vertebrates.

2. Body usually streamlined, spindle-shaped, some are elongated snake-like and a few are
dorsoventrally compressed, and differentiated into head, trunk and tail.
3. Locomotion by paired pectoral and pelvic fins along with median dorsal and caudal fins,
supported by true dermal fin-rays. Muscular tail used in propulsion.

4. Exoskeleton of dermal scales, denticles or bony plates (in Placodermi) covering body surface.
Placoid in Chondrichthyes and ganoid, cycloid or ctenoid in Osteichthyes.

5. Endoskeleton is cartilaginous or bony. The notochord in usually replaced by vertebrae, either

bone or cartilage. Presence of well-developed skull and a system of visceral arches, of which the
first pair forms the upper and lower jaws, the latter movably articulated with the skull.

6. Muscles arranged into segments called myotomes, with separate dorsal and ventral parts.

7. Alimentary canal with definite stomach and pancreas and terminates into cloaca or anus.

8. Organs of respiration are gills. Gill-slits 5 to 7 pairs, naked or covered by an operculum.

9. Heart is venous and two chambered, i.e., one auricle and one ventricle. Sinus venosus and
renal and portal systems present. Erythrocytes nucleated. Poikilothermous.

10. Kidneys mesonephros. Excretions ureotelic.

11. Brain with usual five parts. Cranial nerves ten pairs.
12. Nostrils are paired but do not open into pharynx except Dipnoi. Nasal capsules are partly
separate in Chondrichthyes and completely separate in Osteichthyes.

13. Tympanic cavity and ear ossicles are absent.

14. Internal ear with three semicircular canals.

15. Lateral line system is well developed.

16. Sexes separate. Gonads typically paired. Gonoducts open into cloaca or independently.

17. Fertilisation internal or external. Females of Chondrichthyes are oviparous or ovoviviparous

and of Osteichthyes are mostly oviparous and rarely ovoviviparous or viviparous. Eggs with
large amount of yolk. Cleavage meroblastic.

18. Extra-embryonic membranes are absent.

19. Development usually direct without or with little metamorphosis.

Features of Placodermi:
The placoderms possess the heavy defensive armour of bony plates with powerful jaws and
efficient fins.

1. Bony Armour:
The name placodermi means ‘armoured fish’ or ‘plate skinned’ (Gr., plakos = plates; derma =
skin). The dermal armour of placodermi links them genetically with their predecessors, the
osteoderms. The placoderms were highly diversified. They were ranging in length from a few
centimeters to three meters or more.
The giant predator, Dunkleosteus, grew to ten meters. Despite the differences among them, all
were characterised by the presence of a bony skeleton. Some in particular Dunkleosteus
exhibited a heavy armour of bony plates over the head and anterior part of trunk, while the rest
of the body was nearly naked.

2. Jaws:

All placoderms possess jaws. The jaws are supposed to have originated from the first pair of gill-
bars (mandibular arch) in front of the first gill-slit. Hyoid gill-arch persisted and as a result of
which spiracles had not arisen. Hyoid arch remained unmodified and did not support the jaws.

The placoderm jaw is autostylic, i.e., it is articulated by its own processes to the cranium. No
placoderms ever developed teeth of a modem type as did the acanthodians. The jaws of
placoderms were immovably bound to cranium or rest of the head. These handicaps may have
been involved in their eventual extinction.

3. Paired Fins:

Most placoderms possess paired fins. These are essentially adaptive organs. In an aquatic
environment, development of strong mobile fins was coincident with the evolution of jaws, for
swimming faster. The lateral fins served to produce turning movements in any direction (right,
left, up or down) and to prevent roll, pitch and yaw when swimming in a straight path.

Placoderms survived for short period only and are often considered as ‘unsuccessful ancient
experiment’ in the evolution of gnathostomes.

CLASS CHONDRICHTYES.

1. The fishes of this class bear cartilaginous endoskeleton. They are cold blooded
(poikilothermous or ectothermic). There are about 600 species of cartilaginous fishes.

2. The skin is tough, containing minute placoid scales, which are dermal in origin.
3. Except in the Chimaeras, the gills are not covered by an operculum (gill cover).

4. Jaws are well developed. Mouth is ventrally placed. A spiral valve called scroll valve is
usually present in the intestine. The digestive tract leads into the cloaca.

5. External nares are present on ventral side of the head. The internal nares are absent.

6. Paired fins are broad. The caudal fin is mostly heterocercal -asymmetrical (Gr.heteros-
different).

7. Heart is two chambered (one auricle and one ventricle). Heart has a well developed sinus
venosus; and conus arteriosus. There is well developed renal portal systems RBCs are oval and
nucleated.

8. Kidneys are mesonephric. Urea is chief nitrogenous waste.

9. The brain bears large olfactory lobes and a large cerebellum.

10. There are 10 pairs of cranial nerves.

11. Lateral line system is well developed.

12. Lung or air bladder is absent in these fishes.

13. They have internal ears which help the fish keep its balance. The nictitating mem-brane in
the eye of fish is well developed.

14. Some of them are electric organ (e.g. Torpedo) and some possess poison sting (e.g.Trygon).
15. They have cloaca. In males, pelvic fins may bear 1 or 2 claspers which are used in
copulation. The oviducts in cartilaginous fishes are called Mullerian ducts. The fertilization is
internal. They are oviparous or ovoviviparous (eggs hatch in mother’s genital tract) Development
is direct.
16. Most of the cartilaginous fishes are marine and most of them are predators.

Examples:
Scoliodon, Torpedo, Trygon and Chimaera. Rhinobatus (guitar fish) Pnstis, Zygaena,
Carcharodon (Great White Shark).

Chimaera:

It is commonly called rabbit fish, rat fish, ghost fish or king of her rings. It is an interesting fish
that represents the characters of a shark and a bony fish. Like s ark it has cartilaginous skeleton, a
pair of pelvic claspers and placoid scales.

Like bony fish, it possesses operculum (gill cover) on each side, and has distinct anus and
urinogenital aperture. Cloaca is absent. Male has a frontal or cephalic clasper on the dorsal
surface of the head, its function is unknown.

Scoliodon (Dog Fish):

In India, Scoliodon dumerili is common in the Bay of Bengal, here are present some pores, the
ampullary pores on the upper and lower surface of the head: each pore leads into an ampulla(pl.
ampullae), called Ampulla of Lorenzini through which the fish receives information of the
temperature fluctuations in the surrounding water.
Behind the head on each side there are present five oblique openings, known as gill slits, which
communicate internally with the pharynx. The caudal fin surrounds the tail, showing asymmetry
(upper epicaudal lobe and lower hypocaudal lobe). Such a type of tail, where two different kinds
of lobes are present, is known as heterocercal tail.

Numerous dermal placoid scales are embedded in the skin, which form the exoskeleton of the
fish. The male can be distinguished from the female, since the former has a pair of hard
elongated claspers attached to the pelvic fins. The claspers help in the copulation. It is
ovoviviparous. Scoliodon is also eaten as food by some persons. It yields liver oil.

Cartiloginous Fishes

Zygaena (Hammer-Headed Shark):

It is a voracious surface feeder and fast swimmer. The head forms two lateral lobes, bearing eyes
at their distal ends. The tail has a heterocercal caudal fin. Oil is extracted from its liver.

Pristis (The Saw Fish):

The head forms a saw like rostrum which bears a series of strong teeth-like denticles along the
margin. It uses the denticles for offence and defence.Its body is intermediate between the sharks
and the rays. Ventral or anal fin is absent. Caudal fin is heterocercal. The fish is ovoviviparous.

Torpedo (Electric Ray):

It is a bottom-living marine fish, discharging electricity which is sufficient to make unconscious

the preys such as small fishes, etc. Both the pectoral fins are fused with the trunk. A pair of
electric organs is situated on the dorsal side of the trunk region.

In-fact the electric organs are the modified lateral muscle-plates innervated by the cranial nerves.
Torpedo can generate electric current. The water is drawn through the spiracle and not through
the mouth as happens in many fishes.

Trygon (Sting Ray):

It resembles the electric ray in many aspects but does not have electric organs. The body is
somewhat kite-shaped. The tail is whip-like bearing a spine which is modified form of the dorsal
fin. The spine or sting makes a severe wound on the victim.
 CLASS OSTEICHTHYES

1. The endoskeleton is cartilaginous in the embryonic stage, but in the adult forms more or less it
is replaced by bones. Thus they have bony endoskeleton. They are ectothermic (cold blooded).
There are about 25,000 species of bony fishes.

2. Caudal fin usually homocercal symmetrical (Gr. homos- alike).

3. The exoskeleton, if present comprises cycloid, ctenoid or ganoid scales, which are dermal in
origin.

4. The mouth is terminal. Digestive tract leads into an anus. Cloaca is absent in bony fishes.

5. External nares lie on the dorsal surface of the snout. In lung fishes internal nares are also
present.

6. Bony fishes have a sac-like outgrowth, the swim bladder (also called air bladder), arising from
the dorsal wall of the oesophagus, which is air-filled organ, used to maintain balance and to
swim up and down. In some fishes, such as Heteropneustes, it helps in respiration.

Swim Bladder in a Bony Fish

7. They have 4 pairs of gills which are covered by an operculum on each side.

8. The heart is 2-chambered (one auricle and one ventricle) and also has sinus venosus and conus
arteriosus. Lung fishes have three chambered heart. (Two auricles and one ventricle). Bony
fishes have well developed renal portal system. RBCs are oval and nucleated.

9. Kidneys are mesonephric. Ammonia is chief nitrogenous waste.

10. There are present 10 pairs of cranial nerves.

11. The brain bears relatively small olfactory lobes and cerebellum.

12. Lateral line system is well developed.

13. They have internal ears which helps the fish keep its balance. The nictitating mem-brane in
the eye of fish is well developed.

14. Fertilization is generally external. Most forms are oviparous, some are ovoviviparous.
Development is direct except in Anguilla where development is indirect with a larva lepto-
cephalus. Some bony fishes show parental care.

15. Bony fishes occur in all sort of waters— fresh, marine, brackish.
Examples:

Marine Fishes — Exocoetus, Hippocampus, Solea, Echeneis (Sucker fish), Lophius (Angler
fish).

Fresh Water Fishes — Labeo, Catla, Clarias (Magur), Anguilla, Anabas, Mystus,

Heteropneustes Wallago, Lung fishes.

Aquarium Fishes — Betta (Fighting fish), Pterophyllum (Angel fish).

Carps:

Carps have toothless mouth with scales on the body; however, head is without scales. Barbels are
normally absent, if present, are small or rudimentary. They are mostly herbivorous.

Carps are of two types:

(i) Major Carps:
They are bigger in size and their growth rate is faster, e.g., Labeo rohita, Labeo calbasu,
Cirrhinus mrigala, Catla catla, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Grass carp),

(ii) Minor Carps:

They are smaller in size and their growth rate is slower, e.g. Labeo bata.
Cat Fishes:

They do not have scales but have well developed barbels. Teeth are mostly well developed. They
are carnivorous, e.g., Mystus seenghala, Clarias batrachus (Magur), Heteropneustes fossilis
(Singhi), Wallago attu (Fresh Water Shark), Rita rita.

Murrels (Snake-Headed Fishes)

They have snake-like head). Scales are present both on body and head. They are carnivorous,
e.g., Ophiocephalus (- Channa) punctatus. Live fingerlings (2″ size) of Channa species are used
in Hyderabad once every year (in June) to cure asthma free of cost. The mouth of fingerling is
filled with some herb and the patient is made to swallow it. However, no scientific explanation of
this fish therapy is known.

Labeo Rohita (Rohu):

It is found in clear and sluggish rivers and streams. The adults are chiefly herbivorous in diet.
The young ones are planktivorous. Two short threads like structures, the barbels, are present. The
tail is homocercal. This fish serves as a popular delicious dish.

Catla Catla (Theila):

It is a fresh water fish inhabiting all the rivers in India. It feeds on plankton and decayed
vegetables. The trunk and tail bear moderate sized scales. Barbels are absent. Catla catla is an
excellent food fish.

Anabas— The Climbing Perch:

It can live out of water for some time, where it respires through accessory respiratory organs
lying in-front of the gills. It is carnivorous predatory fish it is very fond of eating earthworms. It
is unable to climb trees. Birds may pick it up from land and drop on trees. This has led to its
common name— climbing perch. The climbing perch is a good food fish.

Bony Fishes
Mystus: The Cat Fish:

Mystus seenghala is a common fresh water cat fish. It is carnivorous predatory fish feeding
exclusively on small fishes, fish fry and prawns. Elon-gated body is without scales. The snout
bears four pairs of barbels. This fish is also eaten.

Anguilla (Fresh Water Eel):

It has a long snake like body. Skin has rudimentary scales. Adult male and female fishes migrate
from river to sea where they lay eggs and die. The young which hatches from egg is called
leptocephalus (larva of eel). The larvae are so transparent that they are called glass fishes. They
feed and grow in sea for 2 or 3 years, then enter the river and undergo metamorphosis to become
adults.

Exocoetus (Flying Fish):

In fact, it does not fly but often leaps into the air up to about six metres high. It is an excellent
food fish. The pectoral fins are modified into wing-like structures, with the help of which the fish
glides.

Hippocampus (Sea Horse):

The neck and the head of the fish are horse-like and the tail is prehensile. The fish always swims
upright in sea water. The sea-horse exhibits sexual dimorphism.

The male bears a brood pouch in which the female lays eggs and the latter remain there till they
hatch. Thus, the parental care is performed by the male. The pelvic and caudal fins are absent.
The dried skin of the sea horse is used for the preparation of some ornaments.

Solea (Flat-Fish):

It is interesting to note that in the early development of the embryo, the eyes of these fishes are
laterally situated but being a bottom dweller they are shifted towards one side, as an adaptation
to water pressure.

Gambusia Affinis (Mosquito Fish):

It feeds on the mosquito larvae; therefore, it is widely used to control mosquito larvae. Gambusia
is also called larvicidal fish. It is a fresh water fish and shows sexual dimorphism.

Present Distribution of Lung Fishes

Lung Fishes:

There are three genera of living lung fishes: Neoceratodus, Lepidosiren and Protopterus. All
have three chambered heart (two auricles and one ventricle).

1. Lepidosiren (South American Lung Fish):

It is found in river Amazon and Paraguay basin in South America. Gills are weakly developed.
Respiration is supple-mented with two lungs. It undergoes aestivation during summer season.
2. Protopterus (African Lung Fish):

It lives in rivers and large lakes of tropical Africa. Gills are weakly developed. Respiration is
supple-mented with two lungs. It also undergoes aestivation.

3. Neoceratodus (Australian Lung Fish):

It is found only in the Burnett and Mary rivers of Queens-land in Australia. It respires
exclusively by gills and uses its single lung only under stress