Fish

Fish have developed special senses, too. Because water transmits sounds, disperses
chemicals, and conducts electricity better than air, fish rely less on their vision and more
on their hearing, taste, and smell. Many can detect motion in the water using a special
row of scales with sensors known as the lateral line. Others can find their prey and even
navigate by detecting electrical charges.

One reason fish are so diverse is that 70 percent of the planet is covered in water. The
animals in this group live in a variety of habitats ranging from coral reefs and kelp
forests to rivers, streams, and the open ocean. Another is that fish are very old on the
evolutionary scale. According to fossil records, they have been on Earth for more than
500 million years! The total number of living fish species—about 32,000— is greater
than the total of all other vertebrate species (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals)
combined.

At first, this might seem like an easy question to answer, but it is difficult to define what
makes a fish a fish because there is so much diversity among animals that we consider
to be fishes. There are more than 27,900 species of fishes alive today, living in marine
and freshwaters, in environments as hot as 104°F/40°C and as cold as 28°F/-2°C, and
ranging in length from 0.3 inches/8 mm to 39 feet/12 m. What characteristics unite such
a diverse group of animals?
Notice how we sometimes use the word "fish" and sometimes the word "fishes?" What's
the difference? It's a little more complicated than singular and plural. Scientists use the
word "fish" to refer to animals of the same species, regardless of whether there is one
individual or 20 individuals. The word "fishes" is used to refer to a grouping of more than
one species. For instance, if you had 20 yellowfin tuna, all of the species Thunnus
albacares (THUH-nuhs AL-buh-KAIR-us), you would refer to them collectively with the
word "fish." If you had a yellowfin tuna, a salmon, and a trout, you would refer to this
group with the word "fishes" because they are all different species.

It contains fish species of sharks, rays, skates, and chimaeras. These species have
skeletons made up of cartilage instead of bones for greater flexibility. Their skeleton
consists of a skull, jaws, paired fins, and nostrils. Above the cartilage, there are mosaics
of granules of calcium carbonate found only in Chondrichthyes. These fishes are
subdivided into two subclasses:

i) Holocephali: Fishes belonging to this subclass include chimaeras. Their distinctive

features are the absence of scales, only one pair of gill slits, and the lower jaw as the
only movable jaw. They are bottom-dwellers and bottom feeders.

ii) Elasmobranchii: The fishes in this subclass have upper jaw detached from the skull.
They have dorsoventrally flattened bodies, placoid scales, and five or more pairs of gill
slits.