fish
Sign in to saveA fish is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with a tough cranium to protect the brain, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fish, the latter including all living cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as the extinct placoderms and acanthodians. In a break from the long tradition of grouping all fish into a single class (Pisces), modern phylogenetics views fish as a paraphyletic group that includes all vertebrates except tetrapods. In English, the plural of "fish" is fish when referring to individuals an
AI overview
Fish are water-dwelling vertebrates with gills, a protective skull, and no limbs with fingers or toes, ranging from jawless species to the more common jawed fish like sharks and bony fish. They matter because they represent a fundamental branch of vertebrate evolution and comprise a vast portion of aquatic biodiversity that supports ecosystems and human food systems worldwide.
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Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- marine life
- Parent taxon
- Gnathostomata
- Image
- Fish-coll002.jpg
Show 15 more facts
- P2579
- ichthyology
- P5008
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4 (2022)
- P910
- Category:Fish
- P3512
- swimming
- P105
- class
- P1552
- aquatic respiration
Article
40 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Evolution
- Fossil history
- Phylogeny
- Taxonomy
- Diversity
- Ecology
- Habitats
- Parasites and predators
- Anatomy and physiology
- Locomotion
- Respiration
- Gills
- Air breathing
- Digestion
- Excretion
- Brain
- Sensory systems
- Cognition
- Electrogenesis
- Endothermy
- Reproduction and life-cycle
- DNA repair
- Defenses against disease
- Behavior
- Shoaling and schooling
- Communication
- Conservation
- Overfishing
- Other threats
- Importance to humans
- Economic
- Recreation
- Culture
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
A fish is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with a tough cranium to protect the brain, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fish, the latter including all living cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as the extinct placoderms and acanthodians. In a break from the long tradition of grouping all fish into a single class (Pisces), modern phylogenetics views fish as a paraphyletic group that includes all vertebrates except tetrapods. In English, the plural of "fish" is fish when referring to individuals and fishes when referring to species.
Most fish are cold-blooded, their body temperature varying with the surrounding water, though some large, active swimmers like the white shark and tuna can maintain a higher core temperature. Many fish can communicate acoustically with each other, such as during courtship displays. The study of fish is known as ichthyology.