- a fish born in fresh water, that spends most of its life in the sea and returns to fresh water to spawn. Salmon, smelt, shad, striped bass, and sturgeon are common examples
anal fin
- a single fin located beneath the tail
aquatic
- living in water or found in water
B
buoyant
- capable of floating
C
camouflage
- to hide by blending in with surroundings
carnivore
- flesh-eating animal
cartilage
- a translucent, elastic, connective tissue found in humans and vertebrate animals that provides support to the skeleton at specific sites throughout the body. It provides support, flexibility, and elasticity to the ends of bone tissue and to the nose, ears, breastbone, trachea, larynx, joints, and other parts of the body. Some animal skeletons, such as that of the shark, are completely made of cartilage
catadromous fish
- a fish that lives in fresh water and enters salt water to spawn. Most of the eels are catadromous
caudal fin
- the tail fin
coelacanth
- fossil fish that was discovered to still be alive in 1938
cold-blooded
- the kind of animal, such as insects, reptiles, frogs, and fish whose body temperature, varies with the temperature of their surroundings. Because their rate of metabolism declines with a drop in the outside temperature, cold-blooded animals become torpid in cold weather
coral reef
- a reef composed of a large colony of corals, usually found in warm, shallow ocean water
D
defense
- a way of protecting yourself from enemies. For fish, it includes camouflage, self-enlargement, color change, ink squirting, and propulsion
dorsal
- on the back
dorsal fin
- the large single fin located along the back bone of a fish
E
ecosystem
- organisms living in a particular environment, such as a forest or a coral reef, and the physical parts of the environment that affect them
egg
- female reproductive cell
F
fin
- one of the movable parts that look like wings, sticking out from the body of a fish. A fish uses its fins to swim and balance itself in the water
food chain
- an arrangement of the organisms of an ecological community according to the order of predation, where each uses the next as a food source
G
gill
- what a fish breathes with. They are openings filled with thin pieces of skin. Water goes into the openings and through the pieces of skin. They take the oxygen out of the water and put the oxygen into the fish's blood
H
habitat
- the place or environment where an organism normally lives and grows
headwater
- the waters from which a river begins
herbivore
- plant-eating animal
L
lateral line
- organ in fish that is sensitive to water potion and pressure, enabling navigation in murky water
life cycle
- all the stages in the life of a living things. During this life cycle, living things develop, are born, grow and change. They become adults and reproduce and die
M
mating season
- in biology, the period of time when males and females pair so female eggs and male sperm join to produce offspring
migrate
- to pass usually periodically from one region or climate to another for feeding or breeding
milt
- another word for sperm
O
omnivore
- organism that feeds on both plant and animal substances
P
pectoral
- either of the fins of a fish that correspond to the forelimbs of an animal with 4 arms or legs
pelvic fin
- paired fins located about halfway down the length of a fish along the abdomen
predator
- a animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals in order to survive
R
redd
- the series of depressions or nests that a female salmon digs in the gravel bottom of a stream for the purpose of depositing her eggs
S
scales
- one of the hard, flat structures that cover the body of fish, snakes, and lizards
smolt
- juvenile salmon at the time that it is adapting from freshwater to saltwater
spawn
- to deposit or produce eggs from female fish and milt (sperm) from male fish
sperm
- male reproductive cell
spinal column
- the column of bones in the back. This called the backbone
T
torpid
- sluggish in functioning or acting, having biological activity slowed or stopped
tributary
- a river or stream flowing into a larger river or stream
