1. Parts of a fish and their functions

2. Parts of a fish and their functions

3. The eyes of a fish are always open;
Fish use their eyes to look for predators. A lot of fish are nocturnal so have large eyes to help them feed at night.
The eyes of a fish are always open;
they have no eyelids.

4. The mouth The mouth is used to catch food. Only some fish have teeth.
The size of the mouth is a big clue to its’ diet. Fish with large mouths eat whole or large chunks of fish. Fish with smaller mouths nibble on plants and small animals.
The mouth is used to catch food.
Only some fish have teeth.

5. The body
The body of the fish is protected by a thin but hard coat of overlapping scales and a coating of slime!

6. The lateral line
The lateral line is a line of very small pores (holes) that sense water movements and vibrations.

7. The gills
Fish use their gills to breathe. They suck in water through their mouth and breathe out through the gills.

8. The tail
The tail is known as the caudal fin. It swings from side to side to move forwards, left and right in the water.

9. The tail
Fish with a continuous caudal fin are good at swimming in and around cracks and crevices.

10. The tail
Fish with lunate (moon-shaped) tail tend to be the fastest swimmers and can swim for a long time.

11. The tail
Fish with forked tails swim constantly without stopping (even when they are asleep!)

12. The tail
Fish with truncated or rounded tails are usually strong, but slow, swimmers.

13. The fins
Fins come in lots of shapes and sizes.
Fins are used for swimming and sometimes for protection. They are made of skin with tiny bones or cartilage in. Fins come in lots of shapes and sizes.

14. The dorsal fin
The dorsal fin is a spiny, hard fin that helps to keep the fish upright.

15. The pectoral fin
The pectoral fins help the fish move from side-to-side. They are also known as arm fins.

16. The pelvic fin
This is also called the leg fin. It helps the fish to move up, down and turn.

17. The back fins
The fins at the back of the body stop the fish from wobbling in the water.

20. Thanks to…
for the fish image and main text content
for the Rainbow Fish cut and paste image