BY 256 Lab

Exam 1 Study Guide

Agnathans
Jawless Fishes (no jaws or paired appendages)
Suctorial Mouth with teeth
Gill apertures
Single nostril
Lateral line system (detects pressure)
2 chambered heart

White Pinmedian
nostrial
Green PinLateral Eye
Red Pin- in
mouth (buccal
funnel)

Lamprey
Cephalospidomorphi

Cartilaginous
7 gill slits
Retains notochord
Anadromous life cycle
Spend 5yrs as larva (ammocoete)
Parasites (anticoagulant producers)

Hagfish
Myxini
Most primitive living vertebrate
No larval form
> 7 gill slits
Knotting behavior that helps during feeding and
escaping predators
Slime producers

Gnathostomata
Jawed Fish
Chondrichthyes
Elasmobranchii (sharks, skates,
and rays)
Holocephali (chimera)

Osteichthyes
Sarcopterygii (fleshy finned fish)
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
Chondrostei (sturgeons and
paddlefish)
Neopterygii
Holostei (bowfin and gar)
Teleostei (perch and darter)

Chondrichthyes
Cartilaginous skeleton
No swim bladder
Elasmobranchii (sharks, skates, and rays)
Holocephali (chimera)

Sharks
Elasmobranchii
Jaws with many rows and teeth (homodont dentiton)
Spiracle (modified 1st gill slit, detects pressure)
Ampullae of Lorenzini (detects electrical fields of other
animals)
Spiral valve (Shelves inside intestines that increase
surface area)
Rectal Gland (salt regulation & osmoregulation)
Liver (fatty, large, used for buoyancy)
Placoid Scales

Skates and Rays

Flattened Body
Reduced Tails
Spiracles
Skates have a more elaborate tail and larger fins. They
are oviparous, lay eggs. Mermaid's Purse, egg case that
protects developing embryo until it hatches.
Rays ovoviviparous, their embryos develop inside
mothers body.

Chimera (Rat Fish)

Holocephali
No Scales
Gill Covers (operculum)

Osteichthyes
Bony skeleton and jaws
Dermal scales
Operculum
2-chambered heart
Arose in Devonian Period
Is the largest group of living vertebrates
Over 23,000 living species

Sacropteygii
Fleshy or lobe Finned
Primitive
Lungfish
Coelacanth

Lungfish
Gulp air at surface of water
African lungfish can survive desiccation through
aestivation
Build mucous cocoon in dry season
Found only in Africa, S. America, and Australia
Dipnoi sp. (Lungfish

Coelacanth
Thought to be extinct
Presence of a Rostral organ
Part of the electrosensory system

Intracranial joint in the skull

Allows the anterior portion of the cranium to swing upwards

Hollow, oil-filled notochord extending the length of the body

Other specific characters
Vertebrae are incompletely formed or totally lacking bony centra (vertebral bodies)
Oil-filled gas bladder
An out-pocketing of the gut

Fleshy lobed or limb-like fins

Are internally supported by bone
Paired fins move in a synchronized tetrapod-like pattern

Actinopterygii
Ray Finned Fish
Gas (swim) bladder
Important structure for maintaining position in the water column (energysaving)
Types of swim bladders
Physostomous
Retains connection with the gut via duct (primitive)
Gulp air
Physoclistous
No connection with gut
Found in higher teleosts
Gases exchanged via blood in gas gland and removed via ovale organ area of bladder

Two Branching clads: Chondrostei and Neopterygii

Chondrostei
Primitive
Largely cartilaginous
Ganiod Scales
Sturgeon and Paddlefish

Have a heterocercal tail ( similar to shark tail)

Possess rudimentary spiral valve in the intestine
Sturgeons- Restricted to N. Hemisphere
Paddlefish- 1 species found in N. America, 1 species in China

Neopterygi
More modern of Actinopterygii
Ray-finned fish
Most have gas bladder (swim bladder)
2 main groups
Holostei (intermediate) Gar and Bowfin
Teleostei (advanced) most fish species

Holostei
Intermediate ray-finned fish
Gar:
Ganoid scales
Abbreviate heterocercal tail
Inhabits backwaters (freshwater and marine)
O2 levels in the water gar inhabit can be < 3.5ppm
Gar gulp air using gas bladder as a lung
Physostomous swim bladder

Bowfin:
Cycloid scales
Abbreviate heterocercal tail
Inhabits backwaters (freshwater) where O2 levels can be low
Gulp air in similar fashion to gars (physostomous swim bladder)

Telostei
Advanced ray-finned fishes
Scale types of teleosts
Scale types of teleosts
Cycloid and ctenoid scales

Represent ~96% of all living fishes

~21,000 species of teleosts

All have a physoclistous swim bladder

Teleosts are the most diverse group of fishes

Darters
Almost all darters are extremely intolerant to pollution
Good ecological indicators.
Swim bladders:
Most darters have poorly developed swim bladders
Some lack a swim bladder entirely
Darters have to dart around on the bottom

All are insectivores/carnivores

Most prefer fast-moving water over riffles