Basic Finfish Features Flashcards
the practice of identifying different organisms, classifying them into categories and naming them
Taxonomy
The most common system of classification in use today
Five Kingdom Classification
who proposed five kingdom classification? when?
proposed by R.H Whittaker in 1969
Five kingdom classification of living organisms
- Kingdom: Monera
- Kingdom: Protista
- Kingdom: Fungi
- Kingdom Plantae
- Kingdom Animalia
It is single-celled eukaryotes and mainly belongs to aquatic.
Kingdom: Protista
It includes diatoms, euglena and protozoans like Amoeba, Paramecium, Plasmodium, etc.
It consists of primitive organisms. The organisms are very small and single celled.
Kingdom: Monera
It includes species like the Bacteria, Archae bacteria, Cyanobacteria and Mycoplasma.
The bodies consist of long, thread-like structures which is called hyphae. These organisms are mostly saprophytes or parasites and also symbionts.
- also called Kingdom Mycota
- consists of network of threadlike structures called as mycelium.
Kingdom: Fungi
This kingdom of fungi also includes Lichens, Mycorrhiza, etc. Example: Aspergillus.
It is eukaryotic, mutlicellular plants.
also known as Kingdom Metaphyta
Kingdom Plantae
This kingdom includes all types of plants like herbs, shrubs, trees, flowering and non-flowering plants. Example: Rose plant, Mango tree, etc.
It is heterotrophic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms. They lack cell wall.
also called Kingdom Metazoa
This kingdom includes all types of animals. Example: Fish, Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Chank, etc.
the arrangement of various categories in successive levels of the biological classification
Taxonomic hierarchy
Each of this level or hierarchy is called
the taxonomic category or rank
Every
organism can be classified at 7 different levels -
- kingdom,
- phylum,
- class,
- order,
- family,
- genus and
- species
- the largest group and very broad
- the smallest group and is very narrow
- The kingdom
- The species
An individual belonging to a group of organisms that are very similar to each other and are having common characteristics and are capable of mating with one another to produce fertile offspring.
Species
the fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus or subgenus.
The species
a language that we use to communicate ideas and information about the diversity of life.
Biological Nomenclature
It is an information retrieval system conveying information about diversity and relationships. It
Biological Nomenclature
B* N* was introduced by
Carl Linnaeus.
names/words in the language of the layperson. These names can often be misleading.
Common names for species
Disadvantages of Common names for species
- They are not useful to people with a different language or dialect
- Some species have several common names
- Some species share the same common name
- Some species may not have a common name
The scientific name of each species is formed by the combination of two words
Consists of a genus and species name
Generic names always begin with
capital letter
Species names always begin with
lower-case letter
cold-blooded aquatic craniate vertebrate with fins for locomotion and gill for respiration
Finfish
About _____ species of finfish has been identified in the world at present time
33,218 species
It may live in ___, ___, and ___.
freshwater, brackish water and marine water
used for identification of species
external morphological characters of finfish
There are two main features in identifying species
morphometric characters and meristic characters
include body shape/parts, mouth location and size, tail shape and colour
Morphometric characters
the counting of spine, ray, etc in fin or other part of body
Meristic characters
External part of finfish is commonly divided in two parts
1) Head consist of Snout, Lips, Mouth, Jaws, Teeth, Barbels, Nostril, Eyes, Operculum and Gills;
2) Body incudes Fins, Lateral Line, Skin and Scales.
the anterior most part of the fish (forward end of head). It is rounded or obtuse in most cases. There can be many variations to the shape of it.
Snout
There can be many variations to the shape of snout.
- Pointed and sharp (Eels)
- Tubular with jaws at tip
- Smooth in most cases
the main organ which fish use while feeding
Mouth
The position and shape of the mouth depends on
- the type of food a fish eats
- the level at which it swims
The mouth shapes can be
- Terminal Mouth
- Superior Mouth
- Sub-terminal Mouth
- Protrusible Mouth
- found in those fish, which feed from water column on other fish or zooplankton
- located in the middle of the head and point straight forward; both jaws are of the same length
Terminal mouth
Example Danios, Rasbora, Putnius, etc.
oriented upwards and the lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw. Usually, fish with this type of mouth feed at the surface. They lay in wait for prey to appear above them, then strike suddenly from below.
Superior Mouth
Many species of fish with a superior mouth feed largely on insects, however, some may feed on other fish that swim near the surface.
- It is also called an inferior or ventral mouth
- turned downward
- he lower jaw is shorter than the upper jaw.
Sub-terminal Mouth
Fish with inferior mouths are bottom feeders and often possess barbels that assist in locating food particles.
allows them to extend their reach when attempting to snatch prey or food particles.
Protrusible Mouth
The jaw consists of
the upper jaw and lower jaw
The upper jaw consists of bones
pre-maxillaries and maxillaries
the lower jaw consists of
mandible bones
There are many types of teeth :-
- Canine:
- Viliform
- Molar form
- Cardiform
- Incisor
It is large conical teeth frequently located at the corners of the mouth, for example, snappers.
Canine
small and fine teeth.
Viliform
olar like broad and rounded. It is used for crushing molluscs and crustaceans.
Molar form/Molariform teeth
It is fine, pointed teeth arranged as in a wool card; for example, the pharyngeal teeth in pickerels (Esox).
Cardiform
Large teeth with flattened cutting surfaces adapted for feeding on molluscs and crustaceans; for example, chimaeras (Holocephali).
Incisor
slender, whisker like tactile organs near the mouth. They are found in fish like catfish, carps etc, they house the taste buds used by fish to find food.
Barbels
pair of apertures or slits on the snout of the fish. They are openings for the smell organs leading to the nasal canal on the skull. They are small to medium and are sunk in snout, in some fish like catfish they are covered with mucus. Position and type of it is often used for identifying a fish.
Nostrils
