Parts of a Fish: Fish anatomy is often referred to as the morphology of the fish. Studying different parts of fish will improve your knowledge of the names of different body parts of fish in English. It will also invoke your interest in aquatic bodies and the delicacies involving them. Here we will study about the internal and external body parts of the fish.
We have thus bought a few names and made a list of parts of a fish.
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List of Parts of a Fish
Name of parts of fish
- Caudal fin
- Anal fin
- Pelvic fin
- Pectoral fin
- Gill
- Gill cover
- Mouth
- Eye
- Nostril
- Dorsal fins
- Scales
- Lateral line
Description of different parts of fish
Caudal Fin
Fins are situated at different parts of a fish, and they serve different purposes. For example, the caudal fin usually serves the purpose of speeding up its movement. Therefore, it is called as their tail fin.
Anal Fin
This fin serves the purpose of swimming by stabilizing their body. It is usually a single fin, but you can pair it with a tail. It is located behind the anus.
Pelvic Fin
It is located below the pectoral fins and occurs in pairs. They help the fish it is upward and downward movement in the water.
Pectoral Fin
They are located behind the gill cover and occur in pairs on each side of the fish. They serve different purposes in different types of fish. For example, they create a lifting force in a shark while helping the flying fishes to “fly” and help the likes of anglerfish and the mudskipper to walk.
Gill
They occur on each side of the fish and are made up of “gill lamellae, ” which helps their oxygen exchange. Every fish must have at least five gills. Gills also play an important role in maintaining the electrolyte balance of the fish.
Gill Cover
They are usually found in bony fishes and are called the operculum. They provide facial support and cover for the gills, which serves the purpose of feeding and breathing the fish.
Mouth
This is the main feeding organ of the fish. The shape of the fish mouth depends on the size of the fish, the food it eats and the depth of water in which they float.
Eye
It provides sight to the fish mainly used for locating food, predators and enemies. They are placed laterally on the upper part of the side of the fish. The size of the eyes may vary depending on their habitat, such as fishes in the deep sea have big eyes and fishes in a hill stream will have small eyes.
Nostril
They are located on the snout of the fish. They are connected with the nasal canal of the skull. The positioning of nostrils and their types are used for identifying different types of fish.
Dorsal Fins
They are present at the top of a fish’s body. They help the fish in sudden turning and stopping. They are usually of two types single dorsal fins and double dorsal fins.
Scales
They cover the outer body of the fish. Their structure is almost similar to that of teeth and is originated from the skin. There are four types of scales, namely: Placoid, Ganoid, Cycloid and Ctenoid.
Lateral Line
It is a sense organ that detects the movement of the water. They are present on each side of the fish. It is usually a line of receptors that can be a broken or a continuous line.
