Classification of Fishes
BY
Dr. Farman Ullah Dawar
Origin of Fishes
• Vertebrate Evolution
• Oldest known vertebrate fossils
• Tadpole (larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian)–
like (6inches in length)
• Jawless fish were only vertebrates for more than 50 m.y.a
• Jamoytius: primitive, eel-like jawless fish
Origin of Fishes
• Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)
• Backbone enclosing a nerve cord, or spinal cord
• Phylum Chordata (characteristics)
• Notochord
• Pharyngeal pouches (The pouches become gills in fish)
• Postanal tail
• Dorsal Nerve Chord
• About 50 species of Agnatha fish, 600 species of Chrondrichthyes
fish and 30,000 species of Osteichthyes fish are found in the world.
Most of the fishes in the bony group belong to the ray finned group.
• According to the biologist there are about 70 fish orders are found in
the world.
• Sharks and rays; sturgeon and gars; herring-like fishes; trout and
salmon; eels, minnows, suckers, and catfish; flying fish and
relatives; cod-like fish; flatfish; seahorses and relatives; mullets,
silversides, and barracuda; and mackerels and tunas are the main
groups of fishes.
• All the species of the fish found in the world are classified into
the following three groups. They are:
• Subphylum Vertebrata
• Super Class Agnatha, Jawless fishes
• Class Myxini (Hagfishes)
• Class Cephalaspidomorphi (Lampreys)
• Class Chondrichthyes, Cartilaginous fishes, (Sharks, Sharks and
Rays, Ratfishes)
• Super Class Osteichthyes, Bony fishes
• Class Actinopterygii (Ray – finned)
• Class Sarcophterygii (Lobe – finned)
• Characteristic of Agnatha (Jawless Fishes)
• Jaws are absent
• Paired fins are absent
• Bony scales and skin plates were present in the ancient species but
are absent in the living species
• Gill pouches are present. They have seven or more pouches
• Stomach is absent in the digestive system
• They have a circular tooth mouth (cyclostomic) by which they bore
the body of their victim and suck their blood. These are classified in
to two major types. They are Hagfish and Lampreys.
Class Agnatha
• Hagfishes and lampreys
•Most primitive of living
fishes
•Feed by suction
•Lack paired fins and scales
•Hagfish (slime eels)
•No vertebrae
•Retains notochord
•Lampreys, freshwater
•Primitive Vertebral column
composed of cartilage
Chrondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
• Phylum: chordate
• Subphylum vertebrata
• Fearsome predators and harmless mollusc eaters are the members of the
Chrondrichthyes.
• They poses true bone and also poses a skeleton made up of cartilage.
• Only the teeth of this species and rarely the vertebrae are calcified
(inflexible due to calcium).
• Sharks, Skates, and Rays make up the group of chrondrichthyes
Origin of Jaws and Paired Fins
• 450 m.y.a
• Paired fins increased fishes’ stability and maneuverability (Capable
of changing position)
• Jaw allow to seize prey
• Jaws are thought to have evolved from 1st pair of gill arches
(support pharynx)
Characteristics of Class Chondrichthyes
•Endoskeleton of cartilage
•Paired fins, movable jaws, gill slits
•Rough sandpaper – like skin
•Placoid scales
•Pointed tip that is directed backward
•Same composition as teeth
•Examples are Sharks, rays, skates, and ratfishes
Fig. 8.4
Osteichthyes
• Phylum: chordate
• Subphylum vertebrata
• Largest group of living vertebrates
• About 30000 species are found in this class.
• Some fishes of this category have actual lungs to breathe and also have
sharp eyesight.
Example Queensland lungfish South American lungfish
• Spindle shaped, oval in section and flattened.
• Skins are protected by protective scales.
• Special gas filled chamber called airbladder housed under the
skeleton to allow them to remain buoyant.
• Another adaptation is operculum, a bone on the sides of the fish to
protect the chambers that house the gills.
• Have more or less bony skeleton and numerous vertebrae.
• Mucous glands and embedded dermal scales are present in the skin.
• Have paired fins
• Bony fish fertilizes eggs either internally or externally.
• Two types of eggs are laid by the bony fish.
• There are the eggs that float and the eggs that sink.
• Gill arches support the gills and are protected by the operculum.
• Lungfish, Carps, Lizardfish, Silversides and Salmon form the
class of bony fish.
• Bony fish are again classified into Ray finned and Lobe
finned fish.
• Ray finned fish have thin, flexible skeleton rays.
• Lobe finned fish have muscular fins supported by bones.
Tab. 8.1
Operculum Gill arch
• Highly maneuverable fins
• Cycloid scales
• Class Sarcopterygii (lobed – fin finned)
• Class Actinopterygii (ray – finned)
Class Sarcopterygii (lobed – fin finned)
• Fins supported by main axis of bone
• Lungfishes
• Modified swim bladder
• Breath air (some)
• Coelacanth (are large, plump, lobe-finned fish)
• Were thought to be extinct since Cretaceous period but were
rediscovered in 1938 off in the coast of West African waters
• Coelacanth species are thought to be ancestors of amphibians
Class Actinopterygii (ray – finned)
• Actinopterygians are the dominant, comprising nearly 99% of
the over 30,000 fish species.
• The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs
of skin supported by bony or horny spines ("rays").
• Their fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeleton.
• Ray-finned fishes occur in many variant forms.
• The swim bladder is the more derived structure.
• Ray-finned fishes have mostly leptoid scales.
Ray finned Fish, the most common of boney fish
Questions/Comments?