Unit 6 types of fish

Topical Vocabulary

anadromous

flank

belly

cartilage

catadromous

caudal fin

dorsal fin

ecosystem

egg

fin

gill

headwaters

milt

pelvic fin

predator

redd

scale

spawn

spinal column

swim-bladder

tributary 

vertebrate

Types of Fishes

bass

bream

carp

catfish

cod

crab

crawdad, crayfish

dace

eel

flat-fish

garfish

goldfish

grass carp

hagfish

halibut

hake

herring

ling

lobster

lungfish

oyster

perch

pilchard

pike

rockfish

анадромный, проходной

бок, боковая сторона

живот, брюшко

хрящ

катадромный, полупроходной

хвостовой плавник

спинной плавник

экосистема

яйцо, икринка

плавник

жабры

воды с верховьев, истоки

молоки (рыб); оплодотворять икру

брюшной плавник

хищник

бугор (гнездо лососевых)

чешуя; чистить (рыбу)

икра; метать икру

позвоночник

плавательный пузырь

приток (реки)

позвоночное животное

Виды рыб

бас

лещ

карп

сом

треска

краб

рак

плотва

угорь

плоская рыба, камбала

морская щука

серебряный карась

белый амур

миксина

палтус

хек

сельдь

морская щука, морской налим

омар

двоякодышащая рыба

устрица

окунь

сардина

щука

морской еж, морской окунь

salmon

sardine

sea-horse

shark

shrimp

silver carp

smelt

sprat

sterlet

sturgeon

tadpole

tench

trout

tuna

swordfish

лосось

сардина

морской конек

акула

креветка

толстолобик

корюшка

килька, шпрот

стерлядь

осетр

головастик

линь

форель

тунец

рыба-меч

Vocabulary Exercises

Exercise 1

Name fresh-water (salt-water) fish.

Exercise 2

Chose the words from the topical vocabulary to match the definitions:

• a fish born in fresh water, that spends most of its life in the sea and returns to fresh water to spawn;

• the large single fin located along the back bone of a fish;

• one of the movable parts that look like wings, sticking out from the body of a fish. A fish uses its fins to swim and balance itself in the water;

• the waters from which a river begins;

• organisms living in a particular environment, such as a forest or a coral reef, and the physical parts of the environment that affect them;

• what a fish breathes with;

• paired fins located about halfway down the length of a fish along the abdomen;

• one of the hard, flat structures that cover the body of fish, snakes, and lizards.

Exercise 3

Use the words from the topical vocabulary to fill in the gaps.

1. A fish's … are the flat objects which stick out of its body and help it to swim and keep its balance.

2. He … the fish and removed the innards.

3. When fish or animals such as frogs …, they lay their eggs.

4. A … is a large sea fish with a very long upper jaw.

5. The skeleton of sharks and rays is composed of … rather than bone.

Fish

Fish are vertebrate animals that live in almost every part of the ocean, from the surface to the bottom of the deepest trenches, and even at the very edge of the sea. By 2004 over 20,000 species, including the 200 or so edible species, had been described. Since about 100 new species are being described each year, the total number of fishes may exceed 30,000 species. About 60% of all vertebrate animals (animals with backbones) are fishes. About half the described species are marine, and approximately 75% of them live in shallow coastal waters. The types range from hagfish (Myxine spp.) to lungfish (Dipnoi), but here the discussion will centre on the bony fishes, which are by far the most diverse and species-rich group of fishes. They are distinct from the cartilaginous fishes, i.e. sharks and their relatives, by having bony rather than cartilaginous skeletons, gills covered with a flap, and mouths that are usually on the front of the head. The mouths of some fishes are armed with teeth that are used to rasp soft tissue, grind up molluscs, or scrape algae off rocks. Others, such as the seahorses, have no teeth and have tubular-shaped mouths adapted to suck up individual plankton.

The rich diversity of fishes is partly the result of their having adopted a great variety of ways of feeding. Their basic body form is spindle shaped, with dorsal fins on the back, two pairs of lateral fins, the pectorals and the pelvics, a ventral anal fin, and a large tail, or caudal fin that is usually symmetrical. The fins are composed of fine bones, or fin rays that normally are webbed. These fin rays can be developed into long sensory structures or hard spiny structures that may be armed with poison glands. The spindle shape gives a good hydrodynamic shape that slides through the water with minimum resistance when the posterior region of the body, and the tail, beats from side to side. However, this basic body shape has been greatly modified in different families of fish, especially in those families that live around the seabed. Eels have lost most of their fins and developed long sinuous bodies and a serpentine mode of movement, ideal for moving in and out of crannies in, reefs, but less effective for swimming in midwater.

The coloration of fishes is almost as diverse as their habits. Some, like flatfishes, can change their colour at will, either to blend in with different backgrounds or to flash warnings to would-be predators. In many shallow coral reef species, males display bright colours to guard their territories, but generally fishes use their coloration as camouflage. The commonest colour pattern in the fishes that swim in midwater is a countershading, with dark backs and pale bellies and flanks that may be banded with a disruptive pattern, often silvery or, in deep-sea species, lined with light organs. The brightness of light changes with depth, and its colour also changes—red light being absorbed very quickly – so the range of colours used by fish is restricted. Also, fish see only monochromatic blue-green light, which is the colour of light that penetrates furthest in water. In very deep water many fish species do not have functional eyes, since that there is almost nothing to see in the permanent darkness below about 1,000 metres (3,250 ft).

Another important sensory feature of fishes is their lateral line system. This is a chain of sense organs, similar to those in our ears, that can either be open to the water or semi-enclosed. With this system the fishes feel the water, sensing currents and the low-frequency vibrations transmitted by the movements of other animals. Many deep-sea fishes have long filamentous tails that, by extending the length of the lateral line organ, enable them to feel the direction from which any movements are coming.

Fishes' blood is about half as salty as sea water – that is why thirsty shipwrecked mariners can safely drink it to slake their thirst – so fish continually have to get rid of salt from their bodies across their gills. Although this helps to make fishes less dense, many still have systems for adjusting the density of their bodies to be much the same as the sea water, so when they stop swimming they do not sink. Above the gut of many fishes is a swim-bladder that is filled with gas. In some fishes this is filled by gulping in air at the surface, but the vast majority never approach the sea surface, so the swim-bladder is filled by a special gland that extracts dissolved gases from the blood. Some fishes that swim continuously, like tunas and marlin, have no swim-bladder. Instead, they have rigid pectoral fins that act like hydroplanes to generate lift as they swim. Swim-bladders do not occur in many deep-sea fishes, because the greater the hydrostatic pressure (i.e. depth) the greater the energy required to fill them, so at depths below about 500 metres (1,625 ft) it becomes physiologically too expensive. In these fishes either the swim-bladder is filled with oily fats, or it disappears. Deep-sea fishes tend to have very watery tissues, and their bones contain very little calcium, which reduces their density. However, some still retain gas-filled swim-bladders in very deep water which are connected by bones to sensory organs, and function as hearing organs. They also often have drumming muscles attached to them for the fish to produce sounds for communication. During the Cold War when hydrophones were deployed in deep water to listen for the movements of submarines, it was found that the deep ocean is quite noisy, especially during the breeding season for deep-sea fishes and when whales migrate.

Exercise 1

Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

прибрежные воды; тело вытянутой формы; изменять окраску по желанию; сливаться с фоном, окружением; подавать предупреждающие знаки потенциальным хищникам; защитная окраска; глубоководные рыбы; утолить жажду; гидростатическое давление; период размножения.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences:

1. The total number of fishes may exceed …

2. The rich diversity of fishes is partly the result of …

3. The fins are composed of …

4. The coloration of fishes is almost as diverse as …

5. The commonest colour pattern in the fishes that swim in midwater is …

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1. What is fish?

2. What is the difference between bony fish and cartilaginous fish?

3. What can you tell about the body form of the fish?

4. What role does the coloration of fishes play in their life?

5. What is another important sensory feature of fishes?

6. Do all fishes have swim-bladders? What for?