what are the characteristics of osteichthyes

• The main characteristics of Osteichthyes are that they have a bony endoskeleton.
• They include marine, brackish, and freshwater fish.
• They have a streamlined body (tapering at the ends).
• They have paired pectoral and pelvic fins along with other anal, dorsal, and caudal fins.

Full Answer

What are Osteichthyes?

Osteichthyes, or bony fish, account for about 96% of all the fish in the sea, and have a skeleton made of bone instead of cartilage. There are over 25,000 species of Osteichthyes, with most having the shared characteristics of a keen sense of smell, good eyesight, mucous glands, dermal scales, paired fins, and jaws with teeth.

Do Osteichthyes have good eyesight?

Osteichthyes have a keen sense of smell, but unlike other keen-smelling fish, they also have very good eyesight. Osteichthyes eat a wide range of foods: some are herbivores and some carnivores, and some can go long periods without any kind of food at all. In fact, the freshwater eel can go up to a year without food!

Do Osteichthyes have an air bladder?

They have developed air bladder, unlike cartilaginous fish in which they’re absent and they have to keep swimming. Like all the other fish classes, Osteichthyes too have a two-chambered heart.

How do you diagnose Osteichthyes?

Osteichthyes is diagnosed by the presence of lungs (see below) and by most of the bony skeleton being formed from cartilaginous precursors. Many bony fishes have an elongated sac, the gas bladder, situated dorsal to the digestive tract.

What are the main characteristics of Osteichthyes?

Key features of OsteichthyesSkeleton more or less bony, vertebrae numerous.Skin with mucous glands and embedded dermal scales.some without scales.Paired fins.Mouth with many teeth (some toothless).jaws present.Respiration by gills supported by bony gill arches and covered by a operculum.

What are three examples of Osteichthyes?

Four examples of Osteichthyes are lungfish, salmon, clownfish, and eels. Lungfish are in the class subclass Sarcopterygii along with coelocanths. Salmon, clown fish, eels, and fish that people are most familiar with are in subclass Actinopterygii.

What are characteristics of Chondrichthyes?

Chondrichthyes characteristicsThey are mostly marine fishes.They contain a pair of jaws. ... Whale sharks are the second largest vertebrate and the largest fish. ... The mouth is present ventrally.They contain cartilaginous endoskeleton, the deposits of calcium salts provide strength to it.More items...

What classification is Osteichthyes?

Osteichthyes is a class of jawed fishes having a bony endoskeleton. It is the largest class of vertebrates and includes a diverse group of marine and freshwater bony fishes....Osteichthyes.KingdomAnimaliaClassOsteichthyes4 more rows

What is the importance of Osteichthyes?

Because of their numbers (more than 20,000 species), diversity, and range, the bony fish play a major role in virtually all marine and freshwater ecosystems . They range from the tiny seahorses to giant sunfish (weighing thousands of pounds) to the salmon on one's dinner plate.

Which fish is Osteichthyes?

bony fishbony fish, (superclass Osteichthyes), any member of the superclass Osteichthyes, a group made up of the classes Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes) and Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) in the subphylum Vertebrata, including the great majority of living fishes and virtually all the world's sport and commercial fishes.

What is the difference between Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes?

The main difference between Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes is that the Chondrichthyes is the class of bony fish whose endoskeleton is made up of cartilages whereas Osteichthyes is the class of cartilaginous fish whose endoskeleton is made up of bones.

What features characterize the Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes?

There are two main groups of fish based on the endoskeleton, namely Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes. The endoskeleton of the members of Chondrichthyes is made up of cartilage while the endoskeleton of fish under the class Osteichthyes is composed of bones.

Do Osteichthyes have bones?

The group Osteichthyes is characterised by fish species that have skeletons primarily composed of bone and is divided into the ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii) and lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii). The structure of the spermatozoa, as in most vertebrates, consists of a head, midpiece and tail (Fig. 2(d)).

Which one of the following is the character of Osteichthyes?

QuestionWhich of the following is/are not the characteristics of the Class Osteichthyes?
(i) Body is streamlined and mouth is terminal.
(ii) Gills are convered by operculum.
(iii) Skin convered with cycloid and placoid scales.
(iv) Many of them are viviparous.SubjectBiology (more Questions)Class11th6 more rows•Apr 17, 2022

How do Osteichthyes reproduce?

The majority of bony fish reproduce via external fertilization of their eggs. During spawning season for the fish, the females and the males release hundreds and sometimes thousands of eggs and sperm into the water.

Where are Osteichthyes found?

They are found in tropical, temperate, and polar seas as well as virtually all fresh water environments.

What are the general characteristics of class Osteichthyes?

General characteristics of class Osteichthyes include a skeleton made of bone, a swim bladder for buoyancy control, opercula for gill protection, a...

What animals are in the class Osteichthyes?

Bony fish are in the class Osteichthyes. Lobe-finned fishes are in the subclass Sarcopterygii and ray-finned fishes are in the subclass Actinopter...

What are four examples of Osteichthyes?

Four examples of Osteichthyes are lungfish, salmon, clownfish, and eels. Lungfish are in the class subclass Sarcopterygii along with coelocanths....

What are Osteichthyes?

Osteichthyes stands out to be the class of largest vertebrates in existence with 45 orders, 435 families, and 28,000 species. They consist of all bony fish. They have bilateral symmetry that means they have only one plane that divides their bodies into two identical halves. Their body cavity is lined by a mesoderm thus it is known as a coelom.

Sarcopterygii Characteristics

Sarcopterygii is a subclass that consists of lobe-finned fishes. Some of the examples are West Indian Ocean Coelacanth, African Lungfish, Lepidosiren, Neoceratodus, Protopterus. The characteristics of Sarcopterygii are as follows.

Actinopterygii Characteristics

Actinopterygii is a subclass that consists of fish with thin and elongated fins. Some of the examples are Labeo, Lates, Clarius, Hilsa, etc. The characteristics of Actinopterygii are as follows.

Things to Remember

Osteichthyes belongs to Kingdom Animalia and consists of all bony fishes.

Sample Questions

Ques. How important is the presence of air bladder in Pisces? (2 marks)

What are the two subclasses of osteichthy?

The two subclasses in Class Osteichthyes are Sarcopterygii and Actinopterygii. Sarcopterygii contains lesser known species such as lungfish and coelacanths. The fish in this class are called lobe-finned fishes and are very primitive. As their name suggests, lungfish possess lungs and can breathe air. If their aquatic habitat drys out, they can live in a cocoon of mucous within mud. It has been suggested that animals that first evolved to live out of the water and on land may be closely related to lungfish. Coelacanths were thought to have been extinct up until the 1930s. Their lobe-finned appendages move in an alternating pattern, much like legs. This feature also suggests the relationship between Sarcopterygii and the evolution of land animals.

Which class of fish has true bone as their skeleton?

Osteichthyes is the class of fish that have true bone as their skeleton.

How do neuromasts work in fish?

Neuromasts are sensory cells that can help detect vibration changes in the water. This detection system can alert fish to prey, predators, or non-living obstacles around them. A neuromast contains several tiny hairs, called cilia, attached to a structure called a cupula. When changes occur in the water, the cupula bends which causes the hairs to move. This disturbance sends a nerve signal to the fish's brain. Neuromasts can be superficial, meaning they have direct contact with the water because they are located directly on the fish's skin. Superficial neurmoasts can be found on the head, trunk, and tail fin. Neuromasts can also be categorized as canal neuromasts. These are found in the fish's lateral line system, which can be seen running from the fish's head down the length of the body. These neuromasts react to water inside the canal, rather than directly with the environment.

What is the class of vertebrates that contain bony fish?

Osteichthyes is the class of vertebrates containing bony fish. Fish in this class have a skeleton made of bone, which is different from the cartilaginous support system of fish like sharks and rays, found in the class Chondrichthyes. If you have ever gone fishing, visited an aquarium, or owned a pet fish, then you have seen members of the class Osteichthyes. These bony fish can live in oceans, estuaries, rivers, lakes, and ponds. There are freshwater and saltwater species of bony fish.

What do bony fish eat?

Fish in the class Osteichthyes have a variety of diets. Some are carnivorous, feeding on other animals such as smaller fish, crustaceans, mollusks, or worms. Others are herbivorous, feeding on algae and seagrass. Some fish may even feed on decomposing organic material called detritus. The diets of bony fish are as diverse as the species, and habitat, depth and temperature, and size of the fish all play a role in the diet of Osteichthyes fish.

What class is the Moray Eel?

Class Osteichthyes is extremely diverse. Even the slender Green Moray Eel is a member of this class.

Why do fish have a keen sense of hearing?

A keen sense of hearing is vital for aquatic animals since sound travels so well in liquids . Osteichthyes have internal ears that contain a tiny bone called the otolith. Otoliths are suspended in a fluid and stimulate a nerve signal once they come in contact with nearby hairs within the ear that are responding to water changes from a nearby sound. The main purpose of hearing in fish is to detect motion. Fish can also use sound to communicate. Sometimes, the swim bladder plays a role in a fish's hearing because its volume can change as a reaction to sound waves.

What is an osteoichthy?

Definition. Osteichthyes is a class of fish that consist of all the bony fish. These fishes are composed of bony endoskeleton and hence the name bony fish. These fishes are different from the rest of the classes of fishes in many characteristics.

Where can Osteichthyes be found?

Osteichthyes can be found in both marine and freshwater environment which makes them the abundant class of fishes. As discussed above, the endoskeleton of bony fish is formed of bone compared to the cartilage endoskeleton of cartilaginous fishes.

What is the difference between cartilaginous fish and bony fish?

The main difference of characteristics between bony fish and cartilaginous fish is the presence of bone and cartilage respectively. Between the various classes of vertebrae, Osteichthyes is the largest class.

What are the characteristics of a bony fish?

They have a streamlined body which accommodates their body while moving forward to filter the water friction. Osteichthyes can be found in both marine and freshwater environment which makes them the abundant class of fishes.

How many gill slits does an osteichthy have?

Osteichthyes have 4 pair of gill slit and each side is covered by an operculum. They are cold-blooded, that is, poikilothermic. Their skin is covered by cycloid/ctenoid scales. They have developed air bladder, unlike cartilaginous fish in which they’re absent and they have to keep swimming.

Do osteichthys have a heart?

Like all the other fish classes, Osteichthyes too have a two-chambered heart. Bony fish have separate sex. Fertilization is external and lay eggs, that is, oviparous. They have direct development mode of life, that is, no larval stage is formed.

What are the characteristics of osteichthy fish?

Osteichthyes Characteristics. There are exceptions, of course, but generally all Osteichthyes have a variety of shared characteristics. Since bony fish have a heavier skeleton than cartilaginous fish, they have a special adaptation to keep them from sinking, known as a swim bladder.

Where do osteichthyes live?

The Actinopterygii make up the majority of the Osteichthyes; there are thousands of different types. You can find them in freshwater and saltwater, and they have many different adaptations.

What are the two subclasses of osteichthy?

Osteichthyes are divided into two subclasses: Sarcopterygii and Actinopterygii. Sarcopterygii, or lobe-finned fishes, include the lungfish and the coelacanth, and Actinopterygii, or ray-finned fishes, include salmon, herring, eels, anchovies, and clownfish, among many others.

What are the two types of osteichthy fish?

The Sarcopterygii are the least numerous of the Osteichthyes, featuring only two types: lungfish and coelacanth. The Actinopterygii make up the majority of the Osteichthyes, and include salmon, herring, eels, anchovies, and clownfish, among many others. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Create your account.

What is the function of the operculum in fish?

The operculum allows the fish to breathe without swimming. They move the bone back and forth to pull and push water past the gills, providing them with oxygen. Other shared characteristics of Osteichthyes include skin with mucous glands, dermal scales, paired fins, and jaws with teeth.

How many species of osteichthy are there?

Osteichthyes, or bony fish, account for about 96% of all the fish in the sea, and have a skeleton made of bone instead of cartilage. There are over 25,000 species of Osteichthyes, with most having the shared characteristics of a keen sense of smell, good eyesight, mucous glands, dermal scales, paired fins, and jaws with teeth.

What are the different types of life that live beneath the surface?

Have you ever peered into an ocean or lake and thought about all the different types of life that live beneath the surface? It may not look like it from standing on the shore, but oceans, lakes, and rivers are teaming with life. Whales, sharks, coral, sea lions, fish, and many other organisms call the earth's waters home.

What are the characteristics of Osteichthians?

Osteichthians are characterized by a relatively stable pattern of cranial bones, rooted teeth, and medial insertion of mandibular muscle in lower jaw. The head and pectoral girdles are covered with large dermal bones. The eyeball is supported by a sclerotic ring of four small bones, but this characteristic is missing or modified in many modern species.

What is the osteichthy?

With over 26,000 species, they comprise over 95 percent of all fish species. The Osteichthyes include the ray-finned fish (subclass or class Actinopterygii) and lobe finned fish (subclass or class Sarcopterygii ). However, some taxonomic schemes (see classification) do not consider Osteichthyes a formal taxonomic group, ...

What are the two subclasses of osteichthy?

Within the Osteichthyes, two extant subclasses (or classes) are generally recognized: the Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) and the Actinopterygii (ray-finned or spiny-finned fish). Most bony-fish belong to the Actinopterygii; there are only eight living species of lobe finned fish, including the lungfish (6 extant species) and coelacanths ...

What are the two groups of Actinopterygii?

The Actinopterygii are generally classified into two groups—the Chondrostei and the Neopterygii —the latter of which includes the Teleostei (modern bony fishes), a classification into which most fish fit today. The Sarcopterygii are traditionally divided into the lungfish and coelacanths.

How does cartilage change in vertebrates?

In more basal vertebrates, cartilaginous structures can become superficially calcified. However, in osteichthians, the circulatory system invades the cartilaginous matrix. This permits the local osteoblasts (bone-forming cells) to continue bone formation within the cartilage and also recruits additional, circulating osteoblasts. Other cells gradually eat away at the surrounding cartilage. The net result is that the cartilage is replaced from within by a somewhat irregular vascularized network of bone. Structurally, the effect is to create a relatively lightweight, flexible, "spongy" bone interior, surrounded by an outline of dense, lamellar periostial bone. Since this bone now surrounds other bone, rather than cartilage, it is referred to as periostial rather than perichondral. This is the unique endochondral bone from which the osteichthians derived their name, as well as many structural advantages.

What are the members of Osteichthyes?

The members of Osteichthyes represent an extraordinary diversity of forms, including the "living fossil" coelacanths, long "sea-serpent" oarfish, tiny cichlids, whiskered catfish, colorful clownfish, voracious piranhas, unique seahorses, and so forth . This diversity of forms, behaviors, and colors provides aesthetic joy to humans, as well as a variety of practical uses—food, sportfishing, aquarium fish, and so forth.

How big is an ocean sunfish?

Specimens of ocean sunfish have been observed up to 3.33 m (11 ft) in length and weighing up to 2,300 kg (5 ,070 lb).

How do benthic eggs differ from pelagic eggs?

Eggs are spherical and vary in size from 0.2 to 5 mm in diameter. Benthic eggs are on average larger than pelagic eggs and have, in general, a much thicker egg envelope than pelagic eggs. For example, Salmo salar (Atlantic salmon) deposit their eggs in a nest of pebbles, and the egg envelope is 30–60 μm thick ( Reid & Chaput, 2012; Songe et al., 2016 ). Often, these nonbuoyant benthic eggs have an egg envelope with a “sticky” outer surface which adheres to substrates ( Berois, Arezo, & Papa, 2011 ). On the other hand, Gadus morhua (Atlantic cod) has small pelagic eggs and their egg envelope is 7.5 μm thick; the highly hydrated eggs float, and the egg envelope has a “smooth” outer surface ( Lonning, Kjorsvik, & Falk-Petersen, 1988) ( Table 7 ). Rainbow trout egg ZPs, manually collected and purified, exhibit a one-layer envelope with fibers radially oriented ( Brivio, Bassi, & Cotelli, 1991) ( Fig. 5 ). The fibers are less than 1 μm in diameter and have a wave-shaped fibrillary appearance.

What are bony fish?

Bony fishes ( osteichthyes) are a diverse and large group that have an ossified endoskeleton. They include lobe- ( sarcopterygii) and ray-finned ( actinopterygii) fishes. Sarcopterigyii include coelacanths and lungfishes whose ancestors gave rise to four-limbed tetrapods. Actinopterygii are divided into 3 groups: chondrostei (e.g., sturgeon), holostei (e.g., gar), and teleostei (e.g., carp, trout, and halibut). Teleostei are a very diverse group that includes more than 30,000 known species and most of today's living fishes ( Litscher & Wassarman, 2015 ).

What are the two classes of bone fish?

Bony fishes (class Osteichthyes) are divided into the infraclasses Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish), Sarcopterygii (the lobe-finned fish), and Teleostei (from the Greek for ‘complete bone’). Encompassing over 95% of extant fish species, the teleosts comprise more than 26 000 species and represent almost half of all extant vertebrate species. The dramatic success of this class of vertebrate, along with their ability to thrive in such a wide range of habitats implies that their ability to maintain homeostasis in the face of pathogen challenge must be considerable. In addition, the long period of time over which the teleost class has been developing and radiating (the first teleost fossil dates to the Triassic period) would permit development of strategies to deal with specific challenges faced by each species.

What are the skeletons of a skeleton fish?

The Osteichthyes —fishes with bony skeletons—comprises the Sarcopterygii (coelacanth and lungfishes) and the Actinopterygii, the latter of which includes the largest class of vertebrates, the Teleostei. The evolutionary radiation of the Teleostei has been spectacular and the dentition has played a major part in trophic adaptation. The main changes in the feeding system have been: increased freedom of movement of the upper jaw, leading to protrusibility of the jaws and increased efficiency of suction during feeding; reduction in the number of teeth; and increased specialization of the pharyngeal dentition for food reduction and of the oral dentition for food acquisition. There has been great diversification of tooth shape and mode of attachment in adaptation to a great range of diets. The lungfishes are a small group in which sectorial tooth plates are formed by fusion of teeth, and the coelacanths are a relict population of benthic carnivorous fishes with piercing teeth.

What is the most common ancestor of Actinopterygii?

Osteichthyes is defined as the most recent common ancestor of Actinopterygii and Sarcopterygii, and all of that ancestor's descendants. Osteichthyes is diagnosed by the presence of lungs (see below) and by most of the bony skeleton being formed from cartilaginous precursors. Many bony fishes have an elongated sac, the gas bladder, situated dorsal to the digestive tract. Gas bladders can serve either a buoyancy control function (swim bladder) or a gas exchange function (respiratory gas bladder). In the latter condition, they are highly vascularized and serve as a supplementary reserve for oxygen to be used in respiration. Although gas bladders and lungs differ in their position relative to the digestive tract (lungs are ventral to the digestive tract) and lungs tend to be paired while gas bladders are single, their developmental origins and gross anatomical features are quite similar. These similarities provide some evidence that the two structures are homologous. Actinopterygii includes a remarkably diverse assemblage of fishes, including more than half of the living species of known vertebrates; over 24,000 valid species are known (see Eschmeyer, 1998 ). The skeleton of actinopterygians is extensively ossified and the internal pectoral skeleton has broad bony plates that facilitate support of fin rays.

What is the group of fish that has skeletons composed of bone?

The group Osteichthyes is characterised by fish species that have skeletons primarily composed of bone and is divided into the ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii) and lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii). The structure of the spermatozoa, as in most vertebrates, consists of a head, midpiece and tail ( Fig. 2 (d) ). The spermatic nucleus is elongated.

What are the chondrosteans?

Chondrostean fishes (class Osteichthyes, subclass Actinopterygii, infraclass Chondrostei) were the dominant forms of bony fishes in the Permian but, like the lungfishes, have subsequently declined to a few small genera. Most of the remaining chondrosteans are members of the order Acipenseriformes, which includes the sturgeons (family Acipenseridae, with 23 species in four genera) and the paddlefishes (family Polyodontidae, with two monotypic genera). The North American paddlefish, Polyodon spathula, displays a karyotype consisting of 120 chromosomes (many of them microchromosomes) that can easily be arranged into 30 quartets, and on this basis has long been assumed to be tetraploid ( Dingerkus and Howell, 1976 ). Similarly, sturgeons appear to display karyotypes that can be grouped into sets of four homologous chromosomes ( Ohno et al., 1969a ), although there has been some discrepancy in the estimated number of chromosomes for some sturgeons, reflecting the difficulty in visualizing their numerous microchromosomes. In Acipenser transmontanus, for example, estimates have ranged from 230 to 248 to 276 chromosomes (see Ludwig et al., 2001 ). Nevertheless, it is apparent that species of sturgeon and paddlefish can be placed into three different karyotypic categories: (1) species with ~120 (110 to 130) chromosomes, (2) those with ~250 (220 to 276) chromosomes, and (3) those with ~500 chromosomes ( Birstein et al., 1997; Ludwig et al., 2001 ).

What Are Osteichthyes?

Characteristics of Osteichthyes

• [Click Here for Sample Questions] Some of the main characteristics of Osteichthyes are as follows. 1. The main characteristics of Osteichthyes are that they have a bony endoskeleton. 2. They include marine, brackish, and freshwater fish. 3. They have a streamlined body (tapering at the ends). 4. They have paired pectoral and pelvic fins along with ...

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Sarcopterygii Characteristics

Actinopterygii Characteristics

Things to Remember

Sample Questions