| Kingdom - Animalia |
| Phylum - Chordata |
| Superclass - Pisces (all fish) |
| Class - Aganatha (jawless fish) |
| Class - Chondrichthyes (fish with cartilaginous skeletons) |
| Class - Osteichthyes (fish with bony skeletons) |
| Sub Class - Actinopterygii (ray finned fish) |
| Order - Cypriniformes (characins, gymnotid eels, loaches, minnows, suckers) |
| Order - Siluriformes (catfish) |
| Order - Atheriniformes (flying fish, haft beaks, killifish, needle fish) |
| Order - Perciformes (bass, blennies, gobies, jacks, mackerels, perch) |
| Order - Tetraodontiformes (box fish, ocean sunfish, puffers, triggerfish) |
| Order - Scorpaeniformes (scorpion fish, sculpins) |
| Order - Gasterosteiformes (pipefish, sea horses, sticklebacks, trumpetfish) |
| Order - Mormyriformes (mormyrids) |
| Order - Osteoglossiformes (bony tongues, freshwater butterfly fish, mooneyes) |
Families (Some of them, come on there's about 50 of them)
The Characidae family has 1,300 species. About 1,000 of those species are found in Central and South America; the rest are found in the rainforests of Africa. This is the tetra family.
The Gasteropelecidae family is commonly referred to as hatchet fish. Hatchet fish are native to South America.
The Cyprinidae family has 1,500 species; such as: carps, minnows, zebra danios, tiger barbs, barbs. They all don't have teeth in their jaws.
The Siluridae family has only one species, the glass catfish. It is native to Indonesia.
The Cyprinodontidae family is referred to as killifishes or egg-laying tooth carps. They are native to North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Some examples are the: black-finned pearl fish, striped panchax, blue gularis, lyretail, steel blue, and American flag fish. *These fish are used as a natural way to get rid of mosquito lavae.*
The Centropomidae family are glassfish. They are native to India, Thailand, and Burma.
The Cichlidae family has over 700 species. They are native to South America and Africa. Some examples are: angelfish (that are native to South America), keyhole cichlid, zebra chlid, orange chromide, alot of other cichlids.
The Chaetodontidae family are butterfly fishes and angelfishes that live in the marine waters of the Indo-Pacific region.
TheSyngnathidae family are sea horses.
Introduction - Short History
Fish are about 425 to 500 million years old. Acanthodians, from which the Osteichthyes evoled from, first apeared 410 million years ago.
Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates that breathe with gills and move with the aid of fins. There are about 30,000 species of vertebrates.
Housing-Equipment (summerized)
Modern aquarium tanks are available in many shapes and sizes. The size of the aquarium depends primarily on the species kept and the amount of money you want to spend.
The water in an aquarium must be kept clean and contain adequate amounts of dissolved oxygen (the filters and air pumps acomplish this). There are three types of filters: mechanical, chemical, and biological. Mechanical filters remove waste and food materials, from the tank. Chemical filters remove dissolved material, from the tank. Biological filters converse harmful substances into good ones.
Feeding
Fish will consume all types of foods and should be given a variety so they don't become bored. Fish should be fed two or three times a day and should only receive what they will consume in three to five minutes.
Go to the local pet store look at your options, make sure you look at the label to see for what species the food is for and feedings instructions, etc.
Reproduction (summerized)
Fish reproduce by means of external or internal fertilization. You need to make-sure that the water is clean, the quality of the water is good (pH, nitrogen, etc.), and the temperature of the water is at the right temp. for the fish; all of these are very important in breeding.
Health
You need to know the norm. of all your fish, because if they get sick you can tell the change. Maintaining the water quality and cleanliness is impertant to controlling the many diseases and ailments of fish.
Fish Links
Fish Fair -- fishy stuff.
Flying Fish Express -- Fish Catalog.
Aquatic Technology -- they sell fish stuff.
Fish Cam-- the name says what it is.
Freshwater Aquarium
Tetra Online -- lots of neat things.
Angelfire - Easiest Free Home Pages
Special Thanks To/ Resources:
Small Animal Care & Management, by Dean M. Warren.
