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A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as well as possible hydrodynamic advantages.
Aristotle (ca. 340 B.C.) may have been the first scientist to speculate on the use of hard parts of fishes to determine age, stating in Historica Animalium that “the age of a scaly fish may be told by the size and hardness of its scales.” [4] However, it was not until the development of the microscope that more detailed studies were performed on the structure of scales. [5]
Keeled scales of a colubrid snake (banded water snake; Nerodia fasciata). In zoology, a scale (Ancient Greek: λεπίς, romanized: lepís; Latin: squāma) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection.
The melanophores also cover the big scales, but these detach easily, and any predator that gets close enough, may end up with a mouthful of scales. Altogether, the absorption of light is 99.5% efficient, a fact that makes photographing this fish in its natural habitat very difficult. [7]
The row of scales on the back rise obliquely above the lateral line, which contains 48 to 51 scales. [5] This species can reach a length of 40 cm (16 in), though most do not exceed 25 cm (9.8 in). [2] The color is probably the most diagnostic feature of the fish, especially when alive or fresh from the water.
An age class structure with gaps in population size like the one described earlier implies a bad spawning year 3 years ago in that species. [7] Often fish in younger age class structures have very low numbers because they were small enough to slip through the sampling nets, and may in fact have a very healthy population. [8]
Cosmine was first described in the Osteolepiform Megalichthys hibberti by Williamson in 1849, in a purely descriptive, pre-Darwinian, non-evolutionary framework. [4] Goodrich [5] expanded on Williamson's descriptions, hypothesizing a transition from a monoodontode scale (like a chondryicthian placoid scale) to a complex polyodontode scale through fusion of discrete units.
Scales to be domed; Dorsal fin to be single, all other fins to be paired; Caudal fin to be divided and forked and held above the horizontal; Extremities of fins to have a slightly rounded appearance; Minimum length of body to be 5.5 cm (2¼ inches) The fish should be bright and alert and displaying well developed domed scales all over the body ...