There are four types of fish scales!
Cycloid scales are thin, overlap, and flexible. They're found on primitive teleosts (like minnows and carp).
Ctenoid scales have small, backwards pointed scales (known as cterns) make the fish more hydrodynamic and faster. They're found on Advanced Ctenoids (like perch and sunfish).
Ganoid scales are thick, diamond-shaped, and mostly non-overlapping. They're found on Chondrostei (like sturgeons and paddlefish).
Placoid scales are spikey and tooth-like with nerves. These are found on Chondrichthyes (like sharks and rays).
Ichthyology Notes 3/?
gamer
(source: squidpastry on iNaturalist)
'fairies dont exist' WRONG❗❗cyerce elegans
Apparently the Congo river is deep enough that there are several species of fish with cavedwelling adaptations (near-total to total blindness, loss of pigmentation, etc) because light doesn't reach where they live. the fuck
apparently this is a thing so i drew myself on it @kiraprismart should i be tagging you?
The body shape of a fish can tell you a lot about it! It can tell you where they like to hang out, how they hunt, what they eat, and more!
Let's use the Asian Arowana (Scleropages formosus) as an example!
Based off the rounded caudal fin (the "tail"), this fish is not a very fast swimmer
Having the dorsal fin and anal fin right near the end of the fish's body suggests it is an ambush predator
The flat head suggests it hunts at the surface
The upturned, large mouth suggests it catches its prey from below
Arowana are ambush predators that hunt at the surface!
They don't need to go very far very fast, hence the rounded caudal fin (which is the slowest moving fin)
Having posterior dorsal and anal fins are a common trait amongst ambush predator
They primarily hunt at the surface! They will sit near the surface and grab small fish, bugs, crustaceans, and even occasionally a bird!
4. Fish that catch their prey from below sometimes do it via suction. They'll open their large mouth, and as the water gets sucked in, so does anything in the water. And the larger the mouth, more water will more quickly fill into the mouth, catching larger and faster prey
The wonderful Glass Octopus. Living at depths of around 3000 ft and only being about a foot long, these strange little creatures are rarely seen by scientists.
The shape of a fish's caudal tail can tell you a lot about how fast the fish moves! A rounded tail is the slowest and a lunate tail is the fastest! The lunate tail has the most optimal ratio of high thrust and low draw, making it the fastest.
Ichthyology Notes 2/?
There are three morphologies of dorsal fins: nearly divided, continuous, and clearly divided.
Ichthyology Notes 1/?
"were going to sleep in ten minutes" no
she/they18 internally - bodily a minorprofile picture by kiraprismartbanner by fanny-hs
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