What does the operculum on a fish do?
Operculum: The operculum is the bony flap that protects the gills from harm. It opens and closes to allow water to pass over the gills.
What is an operculum and what benefits does it provide to bony fish?
The operculum is a hard, plate-like, bony flap that covers the gills of a bony fish (superclass: Osteichthyes). It protects the gills and also serves a role respiration. Fish can acquire dissolved oxygen through pumping water over their gills by opening and closing their jaws and opercula.
What is the operculum in fish made of?
bones
The operculum is composed of four bones; the opercle, preopercle, interopercle, and subopercle. The morphology of this anatomical feature varies greatly between species. For example, the bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) has a posteriorly and dorsally oriented rounded extension with a small black splotch present.
What type of bone is the operculum?
The operculum is a large flap consisting of several flat bones found on the side of the head of bony fish. During development, the opercular bones form within the second pharyngeal arch, which expands posteriorly and comes to cover the gill-bearing arches.
Is the operculum open or closed?
As the mouth closes, water is forced over the gills because the gill covering (called an operculum) has closed. Gills are made up of fine filaments attached to a flexible skeletal arch.
What is the function of the operculum quizlet?
What is the function of the operculum? It controls buoyancy.
Why is the operculum important?
The operculum is a bony flap of skin over their gills that protects the gills. It opens and closes to help bony fish breathe when they are not swimming. Bony fish have scales, and most species have a fusiform body design.
Why is operculum located near the head of the fish?
Located on either side of a fish’s head, gills remove oxygen from the water and diffuse carbon dioxide from the body. The gills are covered by a flexible bony plate called the operculum. Some fish have spines located on the operculum as a defense mechanism to protect them from predators.
Where is the operculum in bony fish?
Do cartilaginous fish have operculum?
Instead of having an operculum covering their gills, sharks and rays have 5-7 visible gill slits on the sides of their head. Unlike bony fish, the cartilaginous fish do not have a swim bladder, so must move continuously or else they will sink.
Where is the operculum on a fish?
The operculum is a triangle-shaped bone that is posterior to the eye and mouth and positioned on each of the fish’s lateral sides (Figure 1), joined to the fish via a ball-and- socket hinge.
Do all fish have operculum?
There are over 29,000 species of bony fish found in freshwater and marine environments around the world. Bony fish differ from fish like sharks and rays in the chondrichthyes class. Bony fish also have an operculum. The operculum is a bony flap of skin over their gills that protects the gills.
What is the operculum in a bony fish?
(February 2014) Opercular series in bony fish: operculum (yellow), preoperculum (red), interoperculum (green) and suboperculum (pink) The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding.
What are the four bones of the operculum?
The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. The opercular series contains four bone segments known as the preoperculum, suboperculum, interoperculum and operculum.
When does the operculum form in a stickleback?
In the three-spined stickleback the opercular series is seen forming at around seven days after fertilization. Within hours the formation of the shape is visible and then the individual components are developed days later. The size and shape of the operculum bone is dependent on the organism’s location.
When does the operculum of a European perch form?
Operculum of a European perch During development the opercular series is known to be one of the first bone structures to form. In the three-spined stickleback the opercular series is seen forming at around seven days after fertilization. Within hours the formation of the shape is visible and then the individual components are developed days later.