Bony skin-covered spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish
Ray fins on a teleost fish, Hector's lanternfish (1) pectoral fins (paired), (2) pelvic fins (paired), (3) dorsal fin, (4) adipose fin, (5) anal fin, (6) caudal (tail) fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the spine and are supported only by muscles.
Fish fins are distinctive anatomical features with varying structures among different clades: in ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii), fins are mainly composed of bony spines or rays covered by a thin stretch of scaleless skin; in lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii) such as coelacanths and lungfish, fins are short rays based around a muscular central bud supported by bones; in cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) and jawless fish (Agnatha), fins are fleshy "flippers" supported by a cartilaginous skeleton.
Fins at different locations on the fish serve different purposes, and are divided into two groups: the midsagittal unpaired fins and the more laterally located paired fins. Unpaired fins are predominantly associated with generating linear acceleration via oscillating propulsion, as well as providing directional stability; while paired fins are used for generating paddling acceleration, deceleration, and differential thrust or lift for turning, surfacing or diving and rolling. Fins can also be used for other locomotions other than swimming, for example, flying fish use pectoral fins for gliding flight above water surface, and frogfish and many amphibious fishes use pectoral and/or pelvic fins for crawling. Fins can also be used for other purposes: remoras and gobies have sucker-like fins for attaching to surfaces; male sharks and mosquitofish use a modified fin to deliver sperm; thresher sharks use their caudal fin to whip and stun prey; reef stonefish have spines in their dorsal fins that inject venom as an anti-predator defense; anglerfish use the first spine of their dorsal fin like a fishing rod to lure prey; and triggerfish avoid predators by squeezing into coral crevices and using spines in their fins to anchor themselves in place.
from the tail or caudal fin, fishfins have no direct connection with the spine and are supported only by muscles. Fishfins are distinctive anatomical...
features of the fish, the fins, are composed of either bony or soft spines called rays which, with the exception of the caudal fins, have no direct connection...
bony fish commonly referred to as lobe-finnedfish, and tetrapods. They are characterised by prominent muscular limb buds (lobes) within their fins, which...
other fluids. Fins are also used to increase surface areas for heat transfer purposes, or simply as ornamentation. Fins first evolved on fish as a means...
Greek πτέρυξ (ptérux) 'wing, fins'), members of which are known as ray-finnedfish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of...
A fish (pl.: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits...
bones that support the base of the dorsal fin in fish are called pterygiophores. The main purpose of the dorsal fin is to stabilize the animal against rolling...
Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other...
Fin rot is a symptom of disease or the actual disease in fish. This is a disease which is most often observed in aquaria and aquaculture, but can also...
consumption of fish high in mercury. High concentrations of BMAA are present in shark fins. Because BMAA is a neurotoxin, consumption of shark fin soup and...
the tail fin. More specialized fish include movement by pectoral fins with a mainly stiff body, opposed sculling with dorsal and anal fins, as in the...
and large, flowing fins, the natural coloration of B. splendens is generally green, brown and grey, while the fins are short; wild fish exhibit strong colours...
any) or appendages in the shape of fishfins. Many types of aquatic animals commonly referred to as "fish" are not fish in this strict sense; examples include...
schooling fish, small squid, or crustaceans, including copepods and krill. Mating takes place in temperate, low-latitude seas during the winter. Fin whales...
[tiktaːlik]) is a monospecific genus of extinct sarcopterygian (lobe-finnedfish) from the Late Devonian Period, about 375 Mya (million years ago), having...
cartilaginous fish) and the Osteichthyes (or bony fish). The bony fish evolved into two separate groups: the Actinopterygii (or ray-finnedfish) and Sarcopterygii...
(14 ft) from fin-to-fin, 3.1 m (10 ft) in length and weighed about 2,300 kg (5,100 lb), while the other record for the biggest bony fish is yet held by...
ribbonfish, and streamer fish. R. glesne is the world's longest ray-finnedfish. Its shape is ribbon-like, narrow laterally, with a dorsal fin along its entire...
represents the fourth unpaired fin on the fish (the four unpaired fins are the caudal fin, dorsal fin, anal fin, and adipose fin), lending to the name tetra...
Deep-sea Tripod Fish Bathypterois grallator (Pisces: Chlorophthalmidae)". Pacific Science. 44 (3): 254–257. hdl:10125/1281. "Fish uses fins to walk and bound"...
Exocoetidae are a family of marine ray-finnedfish in the order Beloniformes, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped...
fifty fin rays along its ribbon-fin. These individual fin rays can be curved nearly twice the maximum recorded curvature for ray-finnedfishfin rays during...
arrow worms (chaetognatha) undulate their finned bodies, not unlike fish. Nematodes swim by undulating their fin-less bodies. Some Arthropod groups can swim...
themselves, the fish are called fry. When, in addition, they have developed scales and working fins, the transition to a juvenile fish is complete and...
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