Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles

Phylum: Chordate – all have spinal cords

• Subphylum: Vertebrates – all have a spinal cord held within a bony spinal back bone

• Classes are: Jawless Cartilage, and Bony Fish

Fish characteristics – all fish have these:All fish have notochords

(they are used for support but are eventually replaced by back bones)

• All have nerve cords• All have two chamber

hearts.• All live in the water, are

aquatic. Except mudskippers! And more mudskippers.

• All are cold blooded

Exterior view

Click on heart to see HUMAN heart circulation

Interior View

All have gill slits to breathe

Gills – feathery organs for gas exchange

Three Classes of Fish(In the Phylum Chordate)

Jawless Fish• No Jaw – use suction cups

to eat

• No paired fins

• No Scales

• Endoskeleton is all cartilage

• Has a notochord for all its life

• Examples: Hagfish and lamprey

Cartilage Fish

• Endoskeleton is all cartilage

• First fish type to have jaws, scales and paired fins

Manta Ray – video – click on picture

Shark video

Sharks• Have rows of teeth• Most are meat eaters• Keen sense of smell

Rays• Large paired fins extend

on body sides like wings• Live near the ocean floor• Feed on small fish,

mollusks, and crustaceans, and croc hunters

Boney Fish• Largest class of fish• Huge variety• Scales and paired fish• Both fresh and salt water• Gills have gill covers to

increase water flow• Lateral line – detects vibrations• Nostrils – odor sensitive/better

than sight• Air bladder – (swim bladder)

regulated swim depth• Tail called caudal fin

Scales – physical protection

Fish reproduce by spawning• Usually external fertilization

Blue gill spawning bed

Boney Fish Gallery• Creatures of the Deep

• Seahorse

• African Cichlids

Trout

Clown Fish

Small mouth bass Blue Marlin

Fish Gallery, con’t

Salmon spawning Sunfish

Northern Pike Butterfly fish

Fabulous Fish Videos

Amphibians (Class)

Amphibian – means double life

Frog toad

salamander

newt

TWO Orders:

Tailess:

Tailed:

Poison Dart Frogs

Salamanders

Mud puppy

All have a three chambered heart

Breathing– Use their thin, moist skin to breathe in water

or land too– Also use simple lungs to breathe on land

Hibernate in Winter• Frogs hibernate in the Winter

• Frogs estivate in the Summer

• Frogs are COLD blooded!!

Metamorphosis

TWO Orders

• TAILess – Frogs and Toads

• TAILed – Newts and Salamanders

Reptiles

Cute!

General CharacteristicsEctotherms (cold blooded)

Lay water-tight, leathery eggs on land or give

birth to live young

Internal fertilization

General Characteristics, con’t– No metamorphosis– Breathe with lungs entire life– Three chambered heart

– Most have four legs (except snakes)– Most have claws – to dig, climb and run– Scales prevent drying out and injuries

Reptiles -4 orders

Reptiles-Snakes

Snake Characteristicshave no ears (tympanic membrane instead)

use tongues for “smelling”

tongue picks up chemicals from the air and

transfers them to a sensing organ (Jacobs

organ) in the roof of the mouth

Pit vipers and some pythons, have heat-sensitive pits on their face

Some snakes inject venom into the prey through hollow fangs

They molt when they grow

Non moveable eye lids

Largest - Anaconda Most poisonous in world – sea snake

Most poisonous in U.S. – coral snake

Flying SNAKES!!!

LizardsBasilisk Lizard

Frilled lizard

Examples: iguana, gecko, skink, chameleon

Can release it’s tail to escape Moveable eye lids

Some have long, sticky tongue for capturing food

Largest – Komodo DragonGila Monster - poisonous

Alligators and Crocodiles

Characteristics– eat any type of animal or can

canabalize also

– can live for up to 100 years

– called last living dinosaur

– temperature of egg, determines the sex of offspring

– lay about 50 eggs

•alligators may have 80 teeth and average 6 to 14 feet but may get up to19 ft long•swallow prey hole•Crocodiles can reach 6 meters often•crocodiles have survived for over 200 million years•crocks have narrower snout than alligator

•crocks can stay under water for up to 2 hours•most live in shallow water•only reptile with a 4 chambered heart

Here's what a crocodile heart looks like. Look at all that plumbing! It has a few features that we don't have, that I'll get to in a moment, and that are special adaptations for the

life of an ectothermic, diving ambush predator.

                                                                                        

            

Turtles and Tortoises

•have two hard boney shells•land and water types•have no teeth

•use beak to feed•endangered due to soups and jewelry•eat worms, fish and insects, some are also herbivores•some can completely hide inside their shells

More feeding

•some swim faster than you can run•turtle more dependent on water environment, tortoise is land dweller only.