Life Goes On: Fishes: Survival in a Challenging Environment
Two features of water, viscosity and density, present challenges for fishes that are very different from what animals who live on land or in the air must face. Fishes have been able to meet these challenges through a number of physiological adaptati...
Life Goes On: Reptiles and Birds
While fishes are the most successful and abundant marine vertebrates, marine reptiles represent the fewest number of species and individuals. Marine birds probably evolved from reptiles and are generally considered to be among the most highly specia...
Life Goes On: Fishes: Defense Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms among fishes are highly diverse. They range from visual defenses, like camouflage and schooling, to being large and predatory.
Life Goes On: Vertebrates: Marine and Terrestrial
Marine biologists informally classify marine animals into two large groups: invertebrates and vertebrates. Vertebrates have backbones, while invertebrates do not. There are far more invertebrates than vertebrates in the ocean, but the vertebrates-wh...
Life Goes On: Fishes: Sensory Mechanisms
Fishes survive in the ocean in part due to their sensory mechanisms. They utilize both sight and smell in this regard, as well as what's called a lateral line system. This is a series of pores and canals along the body and sometimes on the head that...