Fish are aquatic vertebrates. They make up more than half of all living vertebrate species. Most fish are ectothermic. They share several adaptations that suit them for life in the water. You can see some of the aquatic adaptations of fish in Figure 13.7. For a video introduction to aquatic adaptations of fish, go to this link: . MEDIA Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: Fish are covered with scales. Scales are overlapping tissues, like shingles on a roof. They reduce friction with the water. They also provide a flexible covering that lets fish move their body to swim. Fish have gills. Gills are organs behind the head that absorb oxygen from water. Water enters through the mouth, passes over the gills, and then exits the body. Fish typically have a stream-lined body. This reduces water resistance. Most fish have fins. Fins function like paddles or rudders. They help fish swim and navigate in the water. Most fish have a swim bladder. This is a balloon-like organ containing gas. By inflating or deflating their swim bladder, fish can rise or sink in the water. Fish have a circulatory system with a heart. They also have a complete digestive system. It includes several organs and other structures. Fish with jaws use their jaws and teeth to chew food before swallowing it. This allows them to eat larger prey animals. Fish have a nervous system with a brain. Fish brains are small compared with the brains of other vertebrates. However, they are large and complex compared with the brains of invertebrates. Fish also have highly developed sense organs. They include organs to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Almost all fish have sexual reproduction, generally with separate sexes. Each fish typically produces large numbers of sperm or eggs. Fertilization takes place in the water outside the body in the majority of fish. Most fish are oviparous. The embryo develops in an egg outside the mothers body. Many species of fish reproduce by spawning. Spawning occurs when many adult fish group together and release their sperm or eggs into the water at the same time. You can see fish spawning in Figure 13.8. Spawning increases the changes that fertilization will take place. It typically results in a large number of embryos forming at once. This makes it more likely that at least some of the embryos will avoid being eaten by predators. You can watch trout spawning in Yellowstone Park in this interesting video: [Link] MEDIA Click image to the left or use the URL below. URL: With spawning, fish parents cant identify their own offspring. Therefore, in most species, there is no parental care of offspring. However, there are exceptions. Some species of fish carry their fertilized eggs in their mouth until they Fish eggs hatch into larvae. Each larva swims around attached to a yolk sac from the egg (see Figure 13.9). The yolk sac provides it with food. Fish larvae look different from adult fish of the same species. They must go through metamorphosis to change into the adult form. There are about 28,000 living species of fish. They are placed in five different classes. The classes are commonly called hagfish, lampreys, cartilaginous fish, ray-finned fish, and lobe-finned fish. Table 13.2 shows pictures of fish in each class. It also provides additional information about the classes. Class Hagfish Lampreys Cartilaginous Fish Distinguishing Traits Hagfish are very primitive fish. They lack scales and fins. They even lack a backbone, but they do have a cranium. They secrete large amounts of thick, slimy mucus. This makes them slippery, so they can slip out of the jaws of predators. Lampreys lack scales but have fins and a partial backbone. Their mouth is surrounded by a large round sucker with teeth. They use the sucker to suck the blood of other fish. Example hagfish Cartilaginous fish include sharks, rays, and ratfish. Their endoskele- ton is made of cartilage instead of bone. They also lack a swim blad- der. However, they have a complete vertebral column and jaws. They also have a relatively
Output: The majority of fish are