Fish, as a topic, encompasses the study of aquatic, primarily gill-breathing vertebrates within ichthyology, integrating anatomy, physiology, ecology, evolution, and systematics across jawless (Agnatha), cartilaginous (Chondrichthyes), and bony (Osteichthyes) lineages. Research topics include osmoregulatory strategies in freshwater and marine environments, hydrodynamics of locomotion, sensory biology (e.g., lateral line and electroreception), reproductive modes, life-history strategies, and trophic interactions within aquatic food webs. Fish also serve as model systems in developmental biology, genomics, ecotoxicology, and conservation biology, with topics addressing population dynamics, stock assessment, habitat degradation, climate-driven distribution shifts, and biodiversity patterns in marine and inland waters.
Experts have uncovered the earliest known example of a fish with extra teeth deep inside its mouth—a 310-million-year-old fossilized ray-finned fish that evolved a unique way of devouring prey.
Evolution
Sep 3, 2025
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If you're reading this sentence, you might have a fish to thank. Fish were the first animals to evolve jaws. They use their jaws primarily to eat, but also for defense, as tools—such as to burrow or to crack open hard food—and ...
Evolution
Sep 2, 2025
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In a recent study, a research team led by Martin Ebert from the Ludwig Maximilian University and Adriana López-Arbarello from the Unidad Ejecutora Lillo examined fossil fish specimens of the family Caturidae housed in various ...
The viability of fish populations relies on healthy habitats where juveniles can spawn, feed and develop. A cornerstone of sustainable fisheries management, these habitats are facing increased pressure from coastal development, ...
Ecology
Sep 1, 2025
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Small, colorless, and blind, amblyopsid cavefishes inhabit subterranean waters throughout the eastern United States. In a new study, Yale researchers reveal insights into just how these distinctive cave dwellers evolved—and ...
Evolution
Aug 27, 2025
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Marine biologists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have released a new database of size parameters for 1,308 species of Pacific coral reef fishes, advancing scientists' understanding of fish health and ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 27, 2025
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Climate change is reshaping fish habitats. Some fish are winners, others are losing out.
Ecology
Aug 20, 2025
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The Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute reports a Lower Devonian (419 to 393 million years ago) fossilized trackway in the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland, attributed to dipnoan fish. Their analysis finds ...
Nature often puts on incredible displays. A recent example caught on camera shows thousands of bumblebee catfish (Rhyacoglanis paranensis) climbing waterfalls in southern Brazil. This is the first time the species has been ...
A first database has been compiled of the frog and freshwater fish species on hundreds of Australian islands.
Plants & Animals
Aug 14, 2025
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