Do sharks have lunate caudal fins?
Sharks have lunate caudal fins. Some fish maintain body temperatures significantly higher than the surrounding water using a modified circulatory countercurrent heat exchange system between muscle and blood vessels. Muscle segments used in locomotion and found along the sides of fish are called myomeres.
How a lunate caudal fin benefits a fish?
It is the primary means of locomotion for most fish. For example, very fast swimming fish like tunas have lunate caudal fins for more efficient swimming while lie-in-wait predators like grouper have a strong, wide base of the tail, the caudal peduncle, for faster acceleration.
What type of caudal fins do sharks have?
Tail. The tail of a shark consists of the caudal peduncle and the caudal fin, which provide the main source of thrust for the shark. Most sharks have heterocercal caudal fins, meaning that the backbone extends into the (usually longer) upper lobe.
Do bony fish have Heterocercal caudal fins?
Caudal fin It also regulates the speed of forward movement. The caudal fin of bony fish is called a homocercal tail because both the upper and lower lobes are the same size (or symmetrical), unlike in sharks where the upper lobe is generally larger than the lower lobe (referred to as a heterocercal tail).
What makes sharks fast swimmers?
By using an engineering imaging technique, researchers have discovered that as a shark’s tail swings from side to side, it creates twice as many jets of water as other fishes’ tails, smoothing out the thrust and likely making swimming more efficient. For fish to move forward, they have to push water backward.
How is a shark’s caudal fin different from a bony fish?
Swimming is achieved by side-to-side undulations of the caudal, or tail fin, and often part of the trunk; these motions propel the shark forward. Unlike those of bony fish, shark fins generally have broad bases, and are fleshy and relatively inflexible.
Which type of fishes have Heterocercal tail?
The heterocercal tail is present in many fossil fish, in the sharks (Chondrichthyes), and in the more primitive bony fish, e.g. the families Acipenseridae and Polyodontidae.
Which fish have Ganoid scales?
Ganoid scales (or modified ganoid scales) are found in fishes such as the bichirs (Polypteridae), Bowfin (Amia calva), paddlefishes (Polyodontidae), gars (Lepisosteidae), and sturgeons (Acipenseridae).
Where are the rayless fin located in a fish?
In some fish such as tuna or sauries, they are rayless, non-retractable, and found between the last dorsal and/or anal fin and the caudal fin. Bony fishes form a taxonomic group called Osteichthyes.
Where does the lunate fin of a lamnid shark come from?
A recent study showed that the lunate-shaped caudal fin of lamnid sharks originated in the heterocercal caudal fin (Kim et al., 2013 ). In general, the evolution of morphological features is based on modifications in developmental processes (Moczek et al., 2015 ).
What kind of Fins does a ray finned fish have?
Pectoral and pelvic fins have articulations resembling those of tetrapod limbs. These fins evolved into legs of the first tetrapod land vertebrates, amphibians. They also possess two dorsal fins with separate bases, as opposed to the single dorsal fin of ray-finned fish. The coelacanth is a lobe-finned fish which is still extant.
What is the function of the caudal fin in fish?
The caudal peduncle is the base of the caudal fin. Peduncle means stem, and the caudal peduncle is where the strong swimming muscles of the tail are found. Together, the caudal fin acts like a “propeller” for the fish, and the caudal peduncle acts like a motor. Table 4.6. Fish form and function: Caudal fin features.