Bony fish

Salmon fish

In the waters that populate our seas, rivers and oceans, there are a wide variety of living beings. Perhaps, the title to the most sympathetic of them all is for the fish. These peculiar creatures offer us a wide variety of shapes, colors, etc., however, and despite this circumstance, most of them are members of an exclusive group to which we give the name of bony fish.

What is a bony fish?

Bony fish are those fish vertebrates and gnathostomes (vertebrates characterized by having articulated jaws). They are endowed with an internal bony skeleton, hence their name. They are also known as osteictians.

Carp fish

This bony internal skeleton is the main condition that differentiates them from the other large group. de peces: cartilaginous fish. As a curiosity, it must be said that there is a third group de peces, which is made up of jawless fish. The latter are very rare and there are only a very small number of species among which are, for example, lampreys.

Bony fish are, mainly, the fish that we are used to seeing, that is, the most common species such as the typical salmon, trout, aquarium fish, etc. Instead, cartilaginous fish, broadly speaking, are sharks, rays and mantas.

Main characteristics of bony fish

Piranha fish

The skeleton of bony fish is divided into several sections: the axial skeleton, which is the one that occupies the central part; the cephalic skeleton, occupies the part of the head; the zonal skeleton, the one that is close to the pelvic and thoracic fins; and the appendicular skeleton, which is the one that forms the fins.

Perhaps many of the differences between bony fish and cartilaginous fish are internally. Bony fish do not possess a spiral valve, but they have pyloric blind and they lack that rectal gland.

The respiratory system of bony fish possesses gills located inside the gill chamber, and covered by a kind of operculum that only reveals a small brachial opening on each side of the animal. It is rare, although it is also possible, that a preoperculum appears, but we insist that it is something very unusual. Said gills, it should be noted that they are not separated by septa.

In some species de peces bone, the swim bladder it has evolved into a lung. This lung helps them stay afloat, move vertically.

The mouth of these animals is called the terminal mouth, which is capable of very precise movements, mainly thanks to articulated dermal bones by which it is formed. The teeth are usually small extensions of these dermal bones, and it must be said that a fracture or loss of them becomes irreparable damage.

Another characteristic is that in addition to that internal skeleton, they also have bones in parts of their skin like scales. When it comes to identifying whether a bony fish belongs to one species or another, these scales, mainly those found in their lateral and transverse line, they can be of great help to us.

On the subject of fins, bony fish have a couple of pelvic fins, a pair of thoracic fins o Pectorals (they are symmetrical in terms of body shape and disposition) and a or several dorsal or anal fins. Depending on where the pelvic and thoracic fins are located, four types arise de peces bone: abdominals (if the pelvic fins are always behind the thoracic fins), thoracic (if the pelvic fins are at the same height or slightly behind the thoracic ones), yogulars (if the pelvic fins are in front of the thoracic fins) and, finally, the apodal (They are those bony fish that lack pelvic fins).

Food

River salmon

Teething, that is, the teeth, and the shape of the digestive system are decisive when specifying the diet of these fish. Usually, they are usually carnivorous animals, with a large stomach, which has several pyloric cecum, and a short and straight intestine.

However, there are bony fish whose diet is of the herbivorous type, whose stomach is rather simple, which sometimes divides, giving rise to a normal stomach and another crusher. For its part, the intestine is more complex and quite long.

Reproduction

Banco de peces

The reproduction of bony fish is sexual, presenting individuals of different sexes. It must be said that in many of the species de peces bones it becomes very, very difficult to differentiate between males and females, since they do not present a clear sexual dimorphism. On the other hand, there are some species in which the sexes, over time, are reversed. To this variety de peces bony fish are known as sequential hermaphrodites.

Males lack a copulatory organ since fertilization is external, except in some exceptions in which males have anal fins that make an internal fertilization process possible.

The vast majority are fish oviparous, although it is normal for cases to appear de peces bone ovoviviparous y viviparous. some variety de peces They take care of their eggs until they hatch and the babies are born, but it is not common.

The preferred time for breeding depends a lot on the species.

Differences between bony fish and cartilaginous fish

River fish

As has been described or cited throughout this article, within the global group of fish, we find two main types: bony fish y cartilaginous fish. Although there may be many similarities between them, there are more differences that separate them.

Bony fishes obviously possess a skeleton bone body while that of cartilaginous fish is formed by cartilage.

In bony fish yes the swim bladder and a tail fin equal lobes. In the case of cartilaginous fish, there is no swim bladder and tail fin has distinct lobes.

The scales in bony fishes are of cycloid type. Cartilaginous fish have their bodies covered by small scales of placoid type not overlapping.

As for breathing, there is also another difference. In bony fish there are four pairs of gills and a gill operculumHowever, this is not the case in cartilaginous fish. These present five or six pairs of gill openings and no gill operculum.

Examples de peces bone

Group of trout swimming

Mainly, most of the fish that we know belong to the "club" of bony fish. A large number of examples could be given. Here are some: grouper, sardines, salmon, hake, carp, mackerel, sea bass, bonito, salmon, horse mackerel, etc..

Classification of bony fish

Fish on the seabed

Within the own family of bony fish, we can establish a new differentiation or classification, whose protagonists with the actinopterygians and sarcopterygios.

The actinopterygians They are bony fish that have radiated fins made up of bone tissue. Its skull is mainly made of cartilaginous tissue. They have two gill openings protected by an operculum, and the scales are imbricate and rudimentary. They do not have an internal nose or cloaca.

The sarcopterygios they are bony fish have even fins of a fleshy or lobular tissue. These fins are very similar to the fins of some amphibians, which becomes a very clear sign of the evolutionary process. Within them, we have yet another subdivision, among the fish coelacantiforms, nicknamed as coelacanths, and the fish lungs o Dipneas.

We hope we have been able to introduce you to this group of animals that are present in our day to day and in our daily lives, but of which we may not be aware of certain things that make them very special fish.


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