Subtitle

OBJECTIVES
Identify external anatomical features of a fish.

Identify the major internal organs of a fish.

Compare and contrast human and fish internal

organs, structures, and systems.
VOCABULARY
 Anal Fin - fin located near the anal opening; used for balance and steering.
 Caudal or Tail Fin - fin at the tail of a fish; used for propulsion.
 Circulatory System - delivers blood and oxygen throughout the body via the
heart.
 Digestive System – breaks down and processes proteins, carbohydrates and
fats.
 Dorsal Fin – backside (top) fin on a fish; used for balance and protection.
 External Anatomy - the outside body parts, such as, fins, scales, mouth.
 Gills – organ used to obtain oxygen from the water and rid carbon dioxide.
 Gill Rakers – filter feed tiny prey; appendages along the front edge of the
gill arch.
VOCABULARY
 Gonads – the sex organs; males have testes, females have ovaries.
Some fish are hermaphroditic, meaning having both sets of gonads
(male & female) in one fish.
 Lateral Line – organ of microscopic pores that sense low vibrations
and water pressure.
 Nares - organ to smell; similar to nostrils.
 Nervous System - organs receiving and interpreting stimuli for nares,
eyes, lateral line, muscles, and other tissues.
 Pectoral Fin - fins on the sides; used for balance and assist turning.
 Pelvic Fin - belly fins on a fish; used for balance and steering.
VOCABULARY
 Pyloric Caece – “finger-like” organ that aids in digestion, using bile
from the liver.
 Reproductive System – the organs and tissues involved in
reproduction, including gonads, eggs, sperm.
 Respiratory System – organs and tissues involved in the oxygen &
carbon dioxide gas exchange, including gills, gill rakers, and gill
filaments.
 Scales - protective cover on a fish; similar to skin.
 Slime – slippery covering on scales, protecting fish from bacteria,
parasites, etc.
VOCABULARY
 Swim bladder – found only in “ray-finned” fish; a double sac used to
assist in buoyancy.
 Urinary System – the kidneys remove nitrogen (ammonia) from the
blood and regulate water balance in the blood and tissues.
 Vertebrate – an organism with a backbone or spine.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Heart
 In fish, the circulatory system is a single circuit, with a 2-chambered
heart, unlike the typical 4-chambered heart found in land animals like
mammals and birds. From the fish’s atrium blood is pumped into the
ventricle of the heart. From the ventricle, blood is pumped to the gills
where gas exchange takes place in the gill filaments. Carbon dioxide
(CO2) is expelled and oxygen (O2) is taken in. This re-oxygenated
blood then flows on to the rest of the body’s tissues and organs
removing carbon dioxide and replacing it with life-giving oxygen.
Blood is finally pumped back to the heart’s atrium chamber where
the process begins again.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Liver
 The liver has many digestive and storage functions. One is the
production of bile, a solution which emulsifies or breaks down fats in
the intestine. The liver also stores fats and carbohydrates, destroys
old blood cells, maintains proper blood chemistry, and plays a role in
nitrogen waste removal.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Pyloric Caeca
 This organ with finger-like projections is located near the junction of
the stomach and the intestines. It is thought that through the
secretion of enzymes it assists in breaking down the food further and
absorbs needed nutrients, yet the function of this organ is still not
well understood.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Gonads
 Gonads are the sex organs. Males have paired testes that produce
sperm, and females have paired ovaries that produce eggs. In most
cases, fertilization of the eggs is performed externally, called
spawning.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Swim Bladder
 It is a flexible, gas-filled sac located in the dorsal or top portion of the
body cavity and helps to control the fish's buoyancy. Since fish have a
density that is heavier than water, they need this swim bladder to not
sink when they stop swimming. There are two types of swim
bladders, the physostomous and physoclistous.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Fish with a physostomous swim bladder are usually found in shallow
water, though some are in deeper water. They will expel bubbles as
they swim closer to the surface of the water and then they will
swallow air at the surface before diving back down into the water.
This air is passed into the guts and then they will force it into the
swim bladder.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 On the other hand, the physoclistous swim bladder is completely
closed off from the swim bladder. These fish are able to control gas
exchange or the amount of gas in their swim bladder through the
capillaries that are found where the membrane of the swim bladder
is very thin. When a fish is too buoyant, and starts to float upward,
gas diffuses out of the swim bladder into the blood. The gas in the
blood is removed at the gill filaments and expelled. Conversely, if a
fish starts to sink, air enters the swim bladder via a gas gland. .
Sometimes if a fish is caught and quickly brought to the surface from
deep water, their swim bladder may expand so fast that it inflates
into their mouth or even burst which usually will kill the fish,
unfortunately
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Stomach
 The stomach is often referred to as the gut, and is where food is
digested and nutrients absorbed. Fish such as bass are carnivores.
Carnivores have fairly short intestines because such food is easy to
chemically break down and digest. Fish such as tilapia that are
herbivores (eat plants) and require longer intestines because plant
matter is usually tough and fibrous and more difficult to break down
into usable elements.
INTERNAL ANATOMY
 Kidneys
 Kidneys are organs that filter liquid waste from the blood. The kidney
is also extremely important in regulating water and salt
concentrations within the fish's body. This allows certain fish species
to exist in freshwater or saltwater, and in some cases both as in
salmon.
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
 Fins
 All fish have external appendages called fins. Fins allow fish to
balance and steer while swimming. Fins are either single along the
centerline of the fish like the dorsal fin, anal fin, and tail fin; or paired
fins like the pectoral fins and pelvic fins. The dorsal fin helps in
steering but its main function is protection, with some species having
a very sharp, spiny dorsal fin. Pectoral fins help fish balance and turn.
The pelvic fin and anal fin are located on the belly and help with
steering as well as balance. The tail fin, also called the caudal fin
helps propel a fish forward.
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
 Gills
 Located on either side of a fish’s head, gills remove oxygen from the
water and diffuse carbon dioxide from the body. The gills are covered
by a flexible bony plate called the operculum. Some fish have spines
located on the operculum as a defense mechanism to protect them
from predators.
 Lateral Line
 Running down the length of a fish’s body is the lateral line. It is made
up of a series of microscopic holes located just under the scales of
the fish. One of the fish's primary sense organs, the lateral line can
sense low vibrations in the water, and is capable of determining the
direction of their source.
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
 Nares
 All fish possess a sense of smell. Paired holes called nares, are used
for detecting odors in the water, and are located on a fish’s snout.
Some fish, such as some shark varieties, catfish, and eels, have a very
sharp sense of smell.
 Scales and Slime
 Most fish have scales covering the length of their body. Scales protect
fish from injury, much like skin on the human body. On top of these
scales is a mucous covering known as the slime layer. Slime protects
fish from bacteria and parasites in the water. Anglers should be
careful not to remove the slime layer when handling a fish.
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
 Body Shape
 A fish’s body shape, as well as the shape and size of certain external
features, can tell us a lot about that fish. For example, the body shape of a
fish can indicate where that fish lives in the water and what type of
swimmer it might be. In addition, tail fin shape also signifies a fish’s
swimming speed. A sharply forked tail, like that of a shark, implies a fast
swimmer, where as a rounded tail means the fish is good at turning.
 Mouth
 The mouth parts of a fish will vary in size and may or may not contain teeth.
The location of the mouth on a fish’s body can also give us a clue as to what
may be the fish’s diet. A superior mouth, a mouth pointing upward, means
the fish will eat food located above it; where as a fish with an inferior
mouth, a mouth pointing downward, will eat food located below it.
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
 The main body regions of the fish are the head, trunk and tail (caudal fin).
 The head extends from the tip of the snout to the hind edge of the
operculum, the trunk from this point to the anus, and the remainder is the
tail.
 Examine the head and observe the large mouth which has distinct upper
and lower jaws.
 The upper jaw is the 'maxilla' and the lower is the 'mandible’.
 Examine the two external 'nares' on the snout which are openings to the
'olfactory sacs' which are sensitive to dissolved chemicals in the water.
 The 'eyes' are without lids and behind each eye is the bony 'operculum’
which provides protective covering for the four comb-like respiratory gills.