BIOLOGY OF FISH

Fish are vertebrate animals, that is, they all have a vertebral column or ‘spine’. There are
two main groups of fish, bony fish (Teleosts) and cartilaginous fish (Elasmobranchs). As the
common names imply, the skeletons of teleosts are made of bone while the elasmobranchs have
cartilaginous skeletons. The elasmobranchs comprise sharks, rays and dogfish which differ from
teleosts in many respects. The teleosts are far more numerous, with a greater diversity of species
than the elasmobranchs.

All fish are aquatic and breathe by absorbing dissolved oxygen in the water using their
gills. The bodies of both teleosts and elasmobranchs are covered with scales but those of
elasmobranchs are spiky and project through the skin. This makes the skin feel very rough, like
coarse sandpaper. The scales of the teleosts have a flattened, discoid shape and are covered by a
thin layer of skin and mucus which probably reduces friction between the body and the
surrounding water and makes them very slippery.

Fish are commonly described as ‘cold-blooded’ but this is misleading. Their temperature
varies with the temperature of their surroundings. Fish living in warm seas will have
correspondingly warm blood

External features
Nostrils. The nostrils of fish do not open into the back of the mouth as do those of
mammals, and are not, therefore, for breathing. They lead into organs of smell which are as a
rule, very sensitive, so that a fish can detect the presence of food in the water at considerable
distances.

Eyes. The eyes of a fish have large round pupils which do not vary in size.
Dr.C.V.Narasimha murthy. Associate professor (Contract), VSUPGCenter,Kavali. M.Sc.Zoology, notes-2016
 Hearing. Although fish have no ears visible externally they can hear by transmission of
vibrations through the body to sensitive regions of the inner ear.

Mouth. The mouth serves for taking in food; also for the breathing current of water. Some
fish have a wide gape, and filter microscopic plants and animals out of the surface waters as they
swim along, trapping them in gill rakers before the water is expelled from the operculum.

The operculum is a bony structure covering and protecting the gills in teleosts; it plays an
important part in the breathing mechanism. Elasmobranchs do not have an operculum but there
are separate gill slits for each gill.

The lateral line is a jelly-filled tube or canal just below the skin. It opens to the water
outside by a series of tiny pores. Its function is to detect movements in the water. A disturbance
set up, for example, by a person's hand moving in the water, will cause the jelly in the tube to
vibrate. The canal is lined with nerve endings which are stimulated by vibrations and send
impulses to the brain. In this way the fish is made aware of the direction and intensity of water
movements. The sensitivity of this system makes even a blind fish very difficult to catch by
hand.

Fins give stability, and control the direction of movement during swimming, as explained
later.

Swimming
The vertebral column consists of a series of vertebrae held together by ligaments, but not
so tightly as to prevent slight sideways movement between each pair of vertebrae. The whole
spine is, therefore, flexible. The muscles on each side of the spine contract in a series from head
to tail and down each side alternately, causing a wave-like movement to pass down the body.
Such a movement may be very pronounced in fish such as eels, and hardly perceptible in others,
e.g. mackerel. The frequency of the waves varies from about 50 /min in the dogfish to 170 /min
in the mackerel.

The sideways and backward thrust of the head and body against the water results in the
resistance of the water pushing the fish sideways and forwards in a direction opposed to the
thrust. When the corresponding set of muscles on the other side contracts, the fish experiences a
similar force from the water on that side. The two sideways forces are equal and opposite, unless
the fish is making a turn, so they cancel out, leaving the sum of the two forward forces.

The swimming speed of fish is not so fast as one would expect from watching their rapid
movements in aquaria or ponds. Tuna seem to be the fastest at 44 mph, trout are recorded as
doing 23 mph, pike 20 mph for short bursts and roach about 10 mph, while the majority of small
fish probably do not exceed 2 or 3 mph.

Function of the fins in swimming

Dr.C.V.Narasimha murthy. Associate professor (Contract), VSUPGCenter,Kavali. M.Sc.Zoology, notes-2016
 It must be emphasized that the swimming movements are produced by the whole of the
muscular body, and in only a few fish do the fins contribute any propulsive force. Their main
function is to control the stability and direction of the fish.

The tail fin, in its final lash, may contribute as much as 40 per cent of the forward thrust.

The median fins, that is, the dorsal, anal and ventral fins, control the rolling and yawing
movements of the fish by increasing the vertical surface area presented to the water.

The paired fins, pectoral and pelvic, act as hydroplanes and control the pitch of the fish,
causing it to swim downwards or upwards according to the angle to the water at which they are
held by their muscles. The pectoral fins lie in front of the centre of gravity and, being readily
mobile, are chiefly responsible for sending the fish up or down. The paired fins are also the
means by which the fish slows down and stops.

Swim bladder
Teleosts have in their body-cavity a long air-filled bladder running just beneath the spinal
column. The swim bladder makes a fish buoyant so that, unlike the shark or dogfish, it does not
sink when it stops swimming. When the fish swims to a different depth the pressure needs to be
regulated.

In some fish the bladder opens into the gut and the air pressure in it may be increased or
decreased by gulping or releasing air through the mouth. In others, the bladder has no such
opening, and the blood vessels surrounding it secrete or absorb air and so control the pressure in
it.

Breathing
Oxygen dissolved in the water is absorbed by the gills. The movements of the mouth
floor and operculum are co-ordinated to produce a stream of water, in through the mouth, over
the gills and out of the operculum.

There are usually four gills on each side consisting of a curved bony gill-bar bearing
many fine filaments. Through the gill-bar run blood vessels which send branches into the gill
filaments. The filaments bear smaller filaments down their length which, in turn, divide into
smaller branches. So great a number of minute branches provides a very large surface area when
the gills are immersed in water. The walls of the gill filaments are very thin, enabling the oxygen
to diffuse rapidly into the blood. A convenient way of visualizing the gills is as an orderly system
of blood capillaries exposed to the water in such a way as to absorb oxygen.

The mechanism for pumping water over the gills seems to vary in detail according to the
type of fish but, in general, the pressure in the mouth cavity is reduced by the floor of the mouth
being lowered. Sometimes the bony operculum is moved outwards as well, assisting the increase
Dr.C.V.Narasimha murthy. Associate professor (Contract), VSUPGCenter,Kavali. M.Sc.Zoology, notes-2016
in volume. In either case the free edge of the operculum acts as a valve, being pressed against the
body wall by the higher outside pressure and so preventing water from entering through the
opercular opening.

Thus, water enters through the mouth to equalize the pressure. Next, the volume of the
mouth cavity is reduced and the pressure increased by raising the floor of the mouth. A valve
inside the mouth, formed by an inturned fold of skin, prevents water from leaving the mouth.
The increased pressure forces open the operculum and expels the water through the opercular
opening, causing it to pass between the gill filaments as it leaves.

Although there is more oxygen in air than in water, a fish will suffocate in air. This is
probably because the muscular system of mouth and operculum which can work in water will not
function in air. In other words, the valve system which is water-tight is not air-tight. Another
important reason is that when a fish is out of water, the surface tension of the water-film
covering the gill filaments sticks them together so that the total surface exposed is very much
reduced.

Life history
None but the vaguest generalizations about reproduction apply to all fish. Most lay eggs
though some are viviparous, that is, the young fish are born as free-swimming individuals and
not in egg-cases or membranes. Fertilization is normally external but sometimes internal
fertilization occurs. In many species of fish, once the eggs are laid, there is no parental care, but
if there is, it is usually carried out by the male. Behaviour patterns between the male and female
ensure that sperms are released at the same time as the eggs are laid. Sometimes a crude ‘nest’ is
constructed; usually little more than a scrape in the bed of the stream or pond.

Dr.C.V.Narasimha murthy. Associate professor (Contract), VSUPGCenter,Kavali. M.Sc.Zoology, notes-2016