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Fish: Diverse and Essential Aquatic Animals
2 min readNov 27, 2024
- Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates that live in aquatic environments from freshwater rivers to the deep sea. With over 34,000 species, they are incredibly diverse in size, shape, and behavior, playing vital roles in ecosystems and human life.
Characteristics of Fish
- Fish breathe with gills, which allow them to extract oxygen from the water, and most have fins for locomotion and scales for protection. They can be divided into three main groups: bony fish (e.g. salmon), cartilaginous fish (e.g. sharks), and jawless fish (e.g. lampreys).
Importance of Fish
- 1. Ecological Role: Fish help maintain the balance of aquatic ecosystems by controlling the populations of other organisms.
- 2. Human Use: They are an important source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, supporting millions of livelihoods in the fishing industry.
- Fish are essential to both the environment and human life, highlighting the need for sustainable fishing and conservation efforts to preserve aquatic biodiversity.
