| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,723,465,308 visitors served. |
|
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
bony fish |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia | 0.01 sec. |
bony fishFish of the class Osteichthyes, the largest and most important class of fish. The head covering and the scales are based on bone. Bony fish have a swimbladder, which may be modified into lungs and the gills are covered by a flap, the operculum. The bony fish are divided into two subclasses. Subclass Sarcopterygii, the fleshy-finned fish, has two orders: Crossopterygii, represented today by the coelacanth, and Dipnoi, represented by the lungfish. Subclass Actinopterygii, which contains all those fish whose fins are supported by bony rays, is sometimes divided into three superorders: Chondrostei, which includes the sturgeons, birchirs, and reedfishes; Holostei, which includes the garpikes and bowfins; and Teleostei, which includes about 20,000 species of ‘modern’ bony fishes, such as salmon, pike, and cod. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
|
| ? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Next, the book reviews the various organisms that live in the ocean or that rely on it for food, from bottom-dwelling bioluminescent plankton to the more familiar mollusks, bony fish, and marine mammals. The hyomandibula, which in bony fish helped move the operculum (the external gill flap) to aid in gill ventilation, was no longer necessary because the presence of lungs in early tetrapods allowed for independence from the gills. Sharks lack the inflatable swim bladder that allows bony fish to control buoyancy. |
| Hutchinson Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Free toolbar & extensions |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|