Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Freshwater Fish
Chapter One
Fish Anatomy
ANATOMY (Body, Function, and
Relation to Angling)
Size
Fish range widely in size. On the bantam side of the spectrum are tiny Philippine
gobies less than half an inch long, the smallest of all animals with backbones.
They are so diminutive that it takes literally thousands of them to
weigh a pound, yet they are harvested commercially for use in many foods.
At the behemoth end of the spectrum are giant whale sharks 65 to 70 feet
long. The largest whale sharks can weigh as much as 25 tons, but they are
so docile, they may allow inquisitive scientists to pull alongside them
with boats and then climb aboard to prod and poke as they give the big
plankton-eaters a close examination. Between these extremes are seemingly
limitless shapes and sizes among an estimated 21,000 species. This number
exceeds the combined numbers of species of all other vertebrate animals-amphibians,
reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Another giant of the sea is the mola, or ocean sunfish, which also goes by
the name of headfish because its fins are set far to the rear on its broad,
almost tailless body. Molas, which have th ... read full excerpt from Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Freshwater Fish ebook
