Basic Fish Anatomy

Interns:

Sotelo, Anjo Castro, Raymond

Cadorna, Mark Jun Clores, Shaina Mae

Saveret, Joshua
• Biologically speaking, a fish is
composed of ten systems of
bodily organs that work
together to make up the whole
individual. These ten systems
cover the fish, handle its food,
and carry away wastes; they
integrate the life processes of
the fish and relate it to
conditions in the environment;
they provide for breathing and
for protection against injury;
they support the body and
enable movement; and finally,
they work to perpetuate fish as
species and, through evolution,
 GROSS EXTERNAL
ANATOMY
• Commonly the fish body is
torpedo-shaped (fusiform), and
most often slightly to strongly
Globiform
ovoid in cross section.
Fusiform • These departures range from
globe shapes (globiform-puffers,
Filiform Tetra- odontidae) through
serpentine (anguilliform-eels,
Anguilliform
Anguillidae), to thread- like in
outline (filiform-snipe eels,
Nemichthyidae). Some are
strongly flat- tened from side to
side (compressed-butterflyfishes,
Chaetodontidae, and flounders,
Compressiform
Pleuronectidae), others, flattened
but greatly elongated (trachip-
BODY COVERING
• An ordinary fish is covered with a
relatively tough skin-at least
tough enough in most species so
that specimens can be readily
skinned for the table or for the
study of the muscles and other
organs.
• The skin in many fishes is devoid
of scales, but in others it is
armored by scales that develop in
it. Scales range in size from
microscopic to large, in thickness
from tissue-thin to plate-thick, in
ornamentation from simple to
complex, in extent of body
coverage from partial to
 APPENDAGES

• Appendages of fishes comprise the fins and

the cirrhi (flaps of flesh) which attain
extreme development in the sargassumfish
(Pterophryne) and the leafy sea dragon. The
fins are classified as median or paired.
APPENDAGES
median fins
• Rayed fins in line with the median
axis of a typical fish are those of the
back (dorsal fin or fins), the tail
(caudal fin), and the lower edge of
the body just behind the vent (anal
fin)/Although most com- monly all of
the foregoing are present, each is
absent in some kinds of fishes. Also
developed in the median axis may
be a rayless, fatty adipose fin (as in
the trouts, Salmonidae) or fins
reduced to a few disconnected
spines (as in the sticklebacks,
Gasterosteidae). The anal fin may be
modified into an intromittent organ,
PAIRED fins
• Paired fins are the
pectorals and the
pelvics (ventrals). The
pectorals are supported
by the pectoral girdle
that joins the skull and,
in spiny-rayed fishes,
are situated higher on
the sides of the fish
than the pelvics.
• In most soft-rayed fishes (malacopterygians) the
pelvics are abdomnial in po- sition (e.g.,
clupeoids, salmonoids, cyprinoids) but they may
also be situated anteriorly, just below the
pectorals, in a thoracic position (as in many
spiny- rayed species, the acanthopterygians), or
even under the throat, in a jugular position, as in
blennies.
• The pectoral and pelvic girdles are connected by
liga- ment when the pelvics are thoracic or
jugular jugular. The pelvics are lacking in the
lampreys and hagfishes (the living
cephalaspidomorphs) and have become lost in
various other fishes, notably the eels
(Anguillidae, etc.).
Openings
• The mouth, the gill apertures
(including the spiracle in some
primitive forms), and the vent
(anus) are the principal gross
openings connected with the
alimentary tract in the fish body.
Openings for the sense organs
include the narial apertures or
naresand variously distributed
small sensory pores.
• The fish mouth is situated
anteriorly on the head, in ter- minal
position, but adaptively its position
• The fish mouth is situated
anteriorly on the head, in ter- minal
position, but adaptively its position
may be superior (opening dorsally)
or inferior (slightly to prominently
overhung by the snout). In relative
size it ranges from small (as in the
tube-snout Aulorhynchus or in
small-mouthed cyprinids such as s
Phoxinus) to huge (as in the
deepsea swallowers and gulp- ers,
Saccopharyngidae and
Eurypharyngidae, respectively).
 GILL APERTURES
• In the many fishes with gill covers (the
operculate fishes the bony fishes in general)
there is a single opening on each side of the
head. Normally this opening is in front of the
pectoral fin bases, but in the batfishes
(Ogcocephalidae), curiously, it is behind them.
The openings are a single pair in the chimaeras
(Holocephali) and in some hag- fishes (as
Myxine), neither of which, however, has a bony
opercular appa- ratus. In the other hagfishes,
the openings vary from 5 to 14 on each side.
 GILL APERTURES
• Principally in the shark group (Chondrichthyes),
there is an opening that supplements the gill
apertures and extends from the outside into the
pharyn geal cavity. This is the spiracle that is
located between the anteriormost slit and the
eye. It lies between the hyoid arch and the
cranium and has been cited as evidence of the
evolution of function of the hyoid arch from one
of gill support to one of jaw, tongue, and throat
support.
 ANUS
• The anus or vent of a fish is on the mid-ventral
line of the body. Most commonly it is in the
second half of the over-all length of the
individual, behind the bases of the pelvic fins
and just in front of the anal fin. Only rarely is it
located anteriorly as in the adult pirate perch
(Aphre- doderus), where it is jugular in position.
In the sharks and their relatives and in the
lungfishes, the anus opens into a depression on
the ventral body sur- face, the cloaca, which
contains the exits of the urinary and genital
ducts, as well as that of the intestine. In most
fishes, however, the openings of the urogenital
 ABDOMINAL PORES
• Abdominal pores open anteriorly in the vent of
some fishes including lampreys
(Petromyzonidae) and sharks (Squaliformes,
etc). These openings may not be identical in
their origins in these two groups, but in both
they afford a communication between the body
cavity and the exter- ior. Normally they are
paired, one on each side of the midline, although
in some individuals only one is present. They
may represent vestiges of exits for eggs and/or
sperms in ancestral forms. They appear to have
been lost entirely by higher fish groups. In
certain herrings (Clupeidae) and other teleosts,
 SENSORY ORGANS
• Nares. One or two nares (nostrils) on each
side of the snout (dirhinous condition) leading to
a blind sac represent the organs of smell
externally among fishes. However, in the
lampreys and hagfishes (cyclostome
Cephalaspidomorphi) the nostril is single and
median (mono- rhinous condition). Most fishes
have the narial openings at the top and sides
(dorsolaterally) of the snout. In others, such as
the sharks, rays, and skates (Elasmobranchii)
the nares are on the ventral surface of the
snout.
EYES
• The essentially lidless eyes that cannot
be closed are sit- uated in orbits, one
on each side of the midline of the fish
head. Most often the eyes are lateral,
with partially independent fields of
vision and move- ment. In many
bottom dwellers, including the skates
(Rajidae), most sculpins (Cottidae), and
the goosefishes (Lophiidae), the eyes
are dorsal. In adults of the flounders
and their relatives (Pleuronectiformes)
both eyes are on one side of the head.
 SKIN ORGANS
• Numerous microscopically small openings of skin sensory organs
are developed on the surface of the fish body. In most fishes a
series of these pores, extending along each side in a single row
from the head to the caudal fin, comprises the lateral line. The
lateral-line system forms branches about the head, including one
above and one below the orbit of each eye . In some fishes
(including the northern pike, Esox lucius, and the silversides,
Atherinidae) the pores and their sensory organs are not linearly
concentrated on the body but are rather widely scattered.
Chapter 5
skeleton
• In the skeleton fishes included notochord, connective tissues,
bones, cartilage, non-bony scale and tooth components such as
enamel and dentine, supporting cells of the nervous system
(neuroglia), and fin rays (horny in sharks, ceratotrichia, and caly
and piny in higher fishes, lepidotrichia and actinotrichia,
respectively).
• The many kinds of skeletal materials are organized into external
skeletal features and internal zones, both with soft and with hard
parts.
 external skeletal features
• A part of a fish skeleton is, as already described, evident on gross
external inspection. Included are such features of the
integumentary skeleton as scales or bony scale-plates in the skin,
fin rays and connective tissues that toughen the skin and join it to
underlying masculature, bone and cartilage. Evident too are parts
of the internal skeleton (endoskeleton), principally the superficial
bones of the head and the shoulder (pectoral) girdle. These and
other parts of the deep skeleton.
 MEMBRANOUS SKELETON
• A connective tissue joins the skin and its appendages to the
underlying musculature and firm skeletal elements.
• This envelope is continuous at the mid-dorsal and mid-ventral
body lines with the median skeletogenous septrum.
a. Perineural sheath, surrounds the central nervous system-its
outer layer is the dura mater and that most closely affixed to
the brain and spinal chord is the pia mater.
b. Pereneurium, envelops nerves.
c. Perichondrium, wraps cartilage.
d. Periosteum, invests bone.
e. Perimysium, covers muscles.
f. Peritoneum, covers organs of the body cavity (visceral
peritoneum) and lines the visceral cavity (parietal
peritoneum).
g. Pericardium, covers the heart and lines the pericardial cavity.
h. Tendons and ligaments, attach certain muscles to one another
or to the firm skeleton.
 notochord
• The notochord is neither essentially
membranous nor firm in consistency. It appears
early in embryonic development of fishes (and
all other chordates) as an elongated rod of
tissue that lies in the midline and axis of the
body.
• The notochord may be rod-like throughout its
length (lungfishes and chondrosteans). It may
also be relatively very large (an adult, 4-foot
sturgeon, Acipenser, has one about 3.5 feet long
and more than half an inch in diameter). Or, it
may be reduced to a series of small dots of
material, one between each two adjacent
 axial firm skeleton
• The axial firm skeleton of a
fish is composed of the skull,
the vertebral column, the ribs,
and the intermuscular bones.
axial firm skeleton
skull
• The living cephalaspidomorphs
(lampreys and hagfishes) have
firm axial skeletons that are
relatively primitive in some
respects and highly specialized
in others. The axial skeleton is
cartilaginous and includes the
skull, vertebral elements, and fin
rays.
• The lamprey skull (Petromyzon-
idae) is composed of a brain case
(neurocranium) and sense
capsules for the organs of smell,
sight, and hearing-and-balance
(respectively the olfactory, optic,
 skull
• The bony-fish skull (Fig. 3.4) is also
composed of two distinctive parts,
the neurocranium and the
branchiocranium. The
neurocranium in turn has two
major parts: (a) a series of inner
(endosteal) bony elements that
provide a floor to the brain case
and surround and protect the
olfactory, optic, and otic capsules
and the anterior part of the
notochord; (b) a series of outer
(ectosteal) dermal bones that roof
the brain case, and give form to
the face. The branchiocranium has
three regions: (1) jaw or
vertebral column and ribs

• The backbone of a fish is composed

of a series of segments, the
vertebrae. Grossly, there is one
vertebra per r body segment but
two may occur (diplospondyli, as in
the tail of some sharks,
Elasmobranchii).
• Anteriorly one or two (the atlas
and axis) are altered for joining the
column to the cranium. Throughout
the length of the trunk, the bodies
of the vertebrae (vertebral centra)
often have lateral processes that
bear ribs. Throughout the length of
the column, the vertebrae also
 intermuscular bones
• Many bony fishes have small, splint bones of assorted
shapes in the myosepta; groups represented include the
herrings herrings (Clupeidae), pikes (Esocidae), and some
salmons and relatives (Salmonidae), suckers
(Catostomidae), and carps (Cyprinidae), to name only a
few.
• In the trout genus Salmo, the bones are quite straight and
run laterad and caudad from the vertebral column with
which each intermuscular bone has a ligamentous
connection. In the herrings (such as Alosa and Dorosoma)
bones of this kind are often C-shaped and run laterad in
the myosepta from a tendinous con- nection with a
vertebral neural spine.
• In the pike family (Esocidae) and in some of the suckers
(Catostomidae) the intermuscular bones are forked or Y-
shaped. One arm of each Y is connected by ligament to a
 APPENDICULAR FIRM
SKELETON
• The skeletal support of the median
and paired fins differs fundamentally
in that the pectoral and pelvic fins are
supported by girdles whereas the
unpaired fins are not.
DORSAL AND ANAL FIN
SUPPORTS
• The internal skeletal
supports of thecommon
type of dorsal and anal fin in
bony fishes (Osteichthyes)
are a three- bone series.
Inwardly, lying in the
median skeletogenous
septum between two
adjacent vertebral spines, is
a proximal pterygiophore
(axonost) derived from an
interneural, dorsally, or an
interhemal, ventrally.
PECTORAL FIN SUPPORTS
• The lampreys and hagfishes
(Cephalaspido- morphi) lack not
only paired fins, but also the
girdles that support them. In the
sharks and relatives
(Chondrichthyes), however, the
pectoral girdle is composed
basically of a strong
coracoscapular cartilage that is
broadly U-Shaped. Paired
coracoid elements make up the
ventral part of the U, with fin
articulations at its corners, and
the upper extremities are the
scapular parts.
pelvic fin supports
• The pelvic girdle in the sharks and
relatives (Elasmobranchii) is a simple
cartilaginous bar, termed the
ischiopubic, that bears the fin-ray
supporting radials. In the chimaeras
(Holocephali) this bar is paired as is
its bony derivative in the pelvic
girdle of primitive lobefins
(Crossopterygii) and lungfishes
(Dipnoi).
• In the bony fishes (Osteichthyes) the
pelvic girdle is a pair of cartilage-
bones, the basipterygia, separated
or vari- ously fused. Attached
posteriorly to each basipterygium
are the radials which support the
pelvic fin rays in lower bony fishes
(Holostei). In the highest of the bony
muscles
• In fishes, as in other vertebrates,
the three main types of muscle-
striated, smooth and cardiac-may
readily be distinguished
histologically. From the point of view
of attachment, there are two kinds-
skeletal (striated) and non-skeletal
(smooth and cardiac). Functionally,
there are also two types- voluntary
(skeletal or striated) and involuntary
(smooth and cardiac). The lateral
skeletal musculature in fishes has
also been classified according to
architectural type as cyclostomine
(living agnaths) and piscine (living
Chon- drichthyes and Osteichthyes)
(Fig. 3.7).
 SKELETAL MUSCULATURE OF THE
TRUNK
• The trunk muscles are effectively attached to the firm
skeleton, and are of primary use in movement of skeletal
parts and in locomotion. Prominent blocks of lateral trunk
muscle (myotomes) are visible as the meat of a fish when it
is skinned or when it is before one as a steak (cross
section). The thin partitions that join the myotomes have
already been described as myo- septa (parts of the
membranous skeleton). Myotomes arise segmentally in
embryos as myomeres. Also derived from these myomeres
at appropriate positions in the body are:
a. Oculomotor muscles-three pairs for each eye, (Fig.
3.23).
b. Hypobranchial muscles-floor of pharynx generally, jaws,
hyoid, and gill arches (important as extensors; Fig. 3.8).
c. Branchiomeric muscles-face, jaws, and gill arches
(important as constrictors; Figs. 3.8 and 3.9).
SKELETAL MUSCULATURE OF THE HEAD
• On the head of a fish the
musculature is associated primarily
either with the jaws or with the gill
arches. For both, there are
superficial and deep components
that differ not only among major
groups of fishes but even among
related species.
• Only an introduction to the evident
superficial muscles is given here for
two fishes-one, a shark, in which
the jaws are supported by the hyoid
arch (the hyostylic condition) and
the other, a bony fish, in which the
jaws are not so supported (the
autostylic condition). The face of a
shark, when skinned, shows several
 SKELETAL MUSCLES OF THE MEDIAN
FIN
• The muscles of the median fins function to move the fins for
locomotion and for maneuvering the fish (while it is

impelled by the action of other muscles). Superficially these

muscles, for dorsal and anal fins, are organized as pairs:

protractor (erecting) and retractor (depressing); lateral

inclinators (bending) to each fin ray from each side, and,

likewise to each fin ray nearest the median plane, an

erector anteriorly and a depressor posteriorly (Fig. 3.10).

SKELETAL MUSCLES OF THE MEDIAN
FIN
 SKELETAL MUSCLES OF THE PAIRED
FINS
• Of interest here are the relatively small but
specialized muscle masses that arose as slips
from embryonic axial myomeres to supply the
paired fins (as did other slips for the median
fins). Superficial bundles of appendicular muscle
are visible about the bases of the fins when the
overlying skin is removed. They account for
movements of the appendage that are
independent of the movements of the trunk
SKELETAL MUSCLES OF THE PAIRED
FINS
SKELETAL MUSCLES OF THE PAIRED
FINS
 HEART MUSCLE
• Muscle and connective tissue are the two
principal comp skelets of the heart Muscle
and cajac musculature is dark red in
related dishal muscle the Typharily ranges
from white through pink (rarely to reddish
brown) accor ing to species. Its contraction
is involuntary. The mass is thickest in the
wall of the ventricle; the atrium is
relatively thin-walled. The musculature of
the heart (myocardium) is covered
externally by epicardium and internally b
endocardium, both membranous skeletal
 smooth MUSCLE
• In fishes, as in vertebrates generally, involuntary
smooth muscles are located in many different
organs. Included are the following:
a. Digestive tract-both longitudinal and circular
fibers, accounting for movements of food in the
tract (peristalsis); gas bladders also have these
two kinds of fibers.
b. Arteries-circular fibers, maintaining blood
pressure.
c. Reproductive and excretory ducts-moving
products.
d. Eye-accommodating vision by movement of the
 kidneys
• kidneys of fishes are paired,
longitudinal structures.
• commonly they are reddish
brown, pulpy and bloody when
broken up.
Two basic anatomical
types of kidneys
PRONEHRIC TYPE
• anterior funnels lead directly from tbe body
cavity to the pronephric duct by the way of
pronephric tubes
MESONEPHRIC TYPE
• funnels opening into the body cavity are
absent but instead branches of the
mesenephric duct, the mesenephric tubules,
each possess an enlarged blind end.
• Blind end, termed a Browman's capsule
Two basic anatomical types of
kidneys
 REPRODUCTIVE GLANDS-
GONADS
Testes - male gonads
• are internal and longitudinal, they originate as
paired structures and originate in most species
• composed of follicles, weight is 12% of more of
that body, size and color vary according to stage
as sexual maturity ripeness
Ovaries- female gonads
• are internal and longitudinal but are often
variously fused and shortened.
• the size and the extent of occupancy of the body
cavity vary with the stage of sexual maturity of
the female
• when ripe the ovaries may compose as much as
70% of the body weight, color varies often
REPRODUCTIVE GLANDS-
GONADS
endocrine organ
• The ductless glands
such pituitary and
thyroid are relatively
less well known than
those with ducts and
with obvious
secretions such as the
liver.
 nervous system

Cerebrospinal system

• Central division-brain and spinal

cord
• Peripheral division - cranial and
spinal nerves, special - sense
organs
• Autonomic system - ganglia and
fibers, sympathetic and
 Brain
Fish Brain: The brain of a fish is divided
into several regions, each with specific
functions:
 The forebrain or prosencephalon, which
includes the olfactory bulbs (for smell) and
the telencephalon, involved in processing
olfactory information.
 The midbrain or mesencephalon,
containing the optic tectum (for vision)
and other areas involved in motor control.
 The hindbrain or rhombencephalon, which
includes the cerebellum, involved in
Brain
 spinal cord
• The spinal cord of a fish runs along its body
from the brain, transmitting information
between the brain and the rest of the body. The
spinal cord in fish is responsible for many
reflexes and movements, as well as the
transmission of sensory information back to the
brain.
• One fascinating aspect of fish is their
remarkable ability to regenerate their spinal
cord after injury, including the ability to regrow
spinal nerves. This is a trait that many scientists
are studying in hopes of applying it to humans
with spinal cord injuries.
 cranial nerve
• Fish, like other vertebrates, have a set of cranial nerves
that emerge directly from their brain. These nerves are
crucial for transmitting information between the brain
and various parts of the body. While the exact functions
can vary among different species of fish, in general, fish
have 10 pairs of cranial nerves:
• Cranial Nerve I (Olfactory Nerve): Responsible for the sense of
smell.
• Cranial Nerve II (Optic Nerve): Transmits visual information from
the eyes to the brain.
• Cranial Nerve III (Oculomotor Nerve): Controls most of the eye's
movements.
• Cranial Nerve IV (Trochlear Nerve): Also involved in eye
movement.
• Cranial Nerve V (Trigeminal Nerve): Responsible for sensation in
the face and motor functions such as biting and chewing.
 cranial nerve
• Cranial Nerve VIII (Vestibulocochlear Nerve):
Responsible for hearing and balance.
• Cranial Nerve IX (Glossopharyngeal Nerve):
Involved in taste sensation and swallowing.
• Cranial Nerve X (Vagus Nerve): Regulates
functions of the heart, lungs, and digestive
tract
 spinal nerves in fish:

• Spinal nerves in fish, similar to

other vertebrates, are responsible
for transmitting sensory and motor
information between the spinal
cord and different parts of the
body. They play a vital role in
coordinating movement and
sensory perception.
olfactory organ in fish:
• The olfactory organ in
fish, often referred to
as the olfactory
epithelium, is a
specialized sensory
structure responsible
for the sense of smell.
It plays a crucial role
in helping fish detect
and interpret
chemical cues in their
eye of fish:

• The eyes of fish

are specialized
organs that allow
them to perceive
their underwater
environment,
detect prey, and
navigate their
surroundings.
organs of hearing and balance in
fish:
• Fish, like other vertebrates, have specialized
organs for hearing and balance that allow them
to navigate their aquatic environment. Here are
some key points about these organs in fish:
1. Inner Ear: The inner ear in fish is responsible
for both hearing and balance. It consists of two
main structures: the cochlea and the vestibular
system.
• Cochlea: The cochlea in fish is a spiral-shaped
structure filled with fluid. It is involved in
converting sound vibrations into electrical
signals that can be processed by the brain. Fish
cochleae vary in complexity depending on the
organs of hearing and balance in
. fish:
• Vestibular System: The vestibular system in fish
helps them maintain their balance and spatial
orientation in the water. It includes structures
called the utricle, saccule, and semicircular
canals. These structures contain specialized cells
that detect changes in head position, movement,
and the force of gravity. The information is sent
to the brain via the vestibular nerve, helping fish
maintain their equilibrium.
• 2. Lateral Line: In addition to the inner ear, fish
have a unique sensory organ called the lateral
line. The lateral line runs along the sides of their
body and is composed of specialized hair cells. It
autonomic nervous system (ANS)
in fish:

• The autonomic nervous system

(ANS) in fish is responsible for
regulating involuntary functions
and maintaining homeostasis in
their bodies.