These are the answers to the quiz posted at this link: Marine Fish Quiz 1. Well, it’s time to check your answers.
1. How does a marine fish make its blood?
In technical terms, the question is more like, ‘What are the hemopoietic organs of a marine fish?’ Marine fish produce their blood in three different organs: the (cranial) kidney, the spleen, and the thymus. Mammals, most of you know, produce blood in lymph glands and bone marrow. Marine fish have neither of these. Their red blood cells (erythrocytes) are produced by the same tissues that produce their lymphoid response.
2. Name all the functions of a marine fish's gills?
Fish gills perform several functions. Probably the best known is gas exchange. Carbon dioxide passes out of the fish’s blood, through the gill membrane and into the surrounding water; oxygen passes from the water, through the gill membrane into the fish’s blood. However, marine fish gills perform part of the function that human kidneys perform – they eliminate small and only monovalent (single charge) ions from the blood. For example, sodium ions and chloride ions pass from the fish’s blood, through the gill membrane into the surrounding water. [If you missed only one of the functions, then give yourself half a point].
3. How many kidneys does a fish have? What is the function of the marine fish kidney(s)?
Marine fish have two kidneys. One is found up front, just behind the gill chamber and is referred to as the cranial kidney; the other is found in the abdomen, towards the tail and is referred to as the caudal kidney. The caudal kidney is considered very minor (unimportant until someone finds out why it's there!) and usually thin. If you had the correct answers to 1. then you know that one function of the cranial kidney is to produce blood for the fish. Another function is removing multivalent (more than one electrical charge) ions from the fish's blood. The cranial kidney is connected to the anus where multivalent ions are released into the surrounding water. The cranial kidney removes ions like sulfate, ammonia, magnesium, etc. Sodium and chloride are not processed through the kidney – see 2. above. [If you answered “1" for the number of kidneys and got the functions totally correct; give yourself half a point. If you answered “2" for the number of kidneys and missed no more than one of the functions; give yourself half a point. Unless your answer was specifically multivalent ions were removed by the kidney, you don’t get credit for that function.]
4. Describe what the marine fish stomach looks like.
Fish stomachs are all different shapes and sizes! This drives veterinarians nuts! Ever see a curly-q fry or a spring? Some marine fish stomachs look like a spring – no bulge or cavity like a human stomach – just a spiral portion of the intestinal track. (This is what the stomach of a Seahorse looks like, for example). Other stomachs have a cavity with extensions on it which are called ‘fingers.’ It has the appearance of a cow’s utter or human hand. Still others have many fingers of different shapes, lengths and widths. Veterinarians are still unsure just why there is such diversity and what the fingers do and why some fish have a few and others have many and still others have none. A particularly ‘freaky thing’ is that a shark will ‘spit out’ its stomach, turning it inside-out, then ‘swallow it’ again. This action takes a second or two. The stomach is obviously ‘cleaned out’ by this move, but no one understands why they do this and what prompts/initiates the action. [Give yourself half a point if your answer at least included something that looks like the human hand, with fingers coming off a pouch.]
5. The swim bladder is known to help the fish stabilize itself in the water. What gas is in the swim bladder?
Inquiring minds want to know. . .You can imagine that gathering such data isn’t easy. But this is what they ‘think’ they know: The gas is nitrogen. However, in deep sea fishes, there is oxygen mixed in. In fact, the deeper the fish lives, the higher the oxygen content in the bladder gas. Still, the gas is not air. When a fish is young, it may contain a bit of oxygen, but then the nitrogen takes over. Carbon dioxide is found only as a trace, when it is found at all.
6. How many lymph glands does a marine fish have?
Trick question. A marine fish has no lymph glands. See 1. Mean fish anatomy teachers ask the students to describe the condition of their postmortem marine fish’s lymph glands (usually after the student has throw away their necropsy fish). Can you imagine the look on the students’ faces when they ‘forgot’ to check the lymph gland?
7. Name all the functions of the fish mucous coating you can.
The function includes (but isn’t necessarily limited to): Contains proteins that inhibit pathogen attacks; contains fish antibodies to fight some diseases; keeps some bacteria off the skin; protects the skin; etc. [If you got two or more, give yourself full credit for this question].
8. What does a Tang eat?
This can be a semi-trick question. One has to ask, ‘How old is the Tang?’ in order to provide a definitive answer. Young Tangs eat copepods, plankton, algae, and a wide variety of foods. They are omnivores when young. As they grow and join large schools that swim miles around the ocean each day, they become more like herbivores seeking and consuming large quantities of sea algae. [If you answered “algae†or "vegetables" or "herbivore" only, give yourself half a point].
9. When a fish is 'piping' what is it doing? Name the primary cause(s) for a marine fish to do this.
Piping is when the marine fish goes to the water surface and gulps/swallows air. This is a reaction to not getting enough oxygen. The best answer to the second part of 9. is that either the water contains insufficient oxygen or the gills are being prevented from getting oxygen out from the water and into the fish’s blood. If the gills are infected, chemically ‘burned,’ injured/damaged, or malfunctioning, the fish may exhibit piping. [If you answered the first part correctly but didn’t give all the causes for piping, then give yourself half a point].
10 When a marine fish is under stress, does the blood count go up or down?
This may be the hardest question on this quiz. The answer is. . .EITHER ONE. A marine fish blood count (the number of red blood cells per unit volume of blood) will go up with some stressors and down with other stressors. A fish is considered to be under stress when its blood count is abnormal (either increased or decreased). This is why blood count is not a signal of stress UNLESS before the fish was stressed, the normal blood count was established. Obviously, the blood count is not much of a benefit in ailments. It isn’t usually a part of a typical set of diagnostic tests. [If you answered either “up†or “down†but not “either one†give yourself half a point].
Add a + after the number of questions you got correct if you knew my full name is:
William Lee Birch, Jr.
Each correct numbered (whole) response is worth one point. Half-points are possible but only in the circumstances noted above. If you didn’t look up, get help from another person, or have to get the responses, but had them in your head, then with regards to your knowledge of marine fishes:
9 to 10+ correct - you’re a top notch marine fish aquarist/ichthyologist – maybe a pro!
6.5+ up to 8.5+ correct - you’re an expert aquarist or ichthyology student;
4.5 up to 6.5 correct - you are a very good and well informed marine fish aquarist;
2 up to 4+ correct - you’re an average marine fish aquarist, reasonably informed; and
0 up to 1.5+ correct - you are likely a learning hobbyist or aquarist and like the marine fish hobby (and there’s nothing wrong with that!
)
I hope you had some fun learning more about our fishy friends. I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend holiday.
Want another quiz? Different topic? Easier or the same difficulty?
1. How does a marine fish make its blood?
In technical terms, the question is more like, ‘What are the hemopoietic organs of a marine fish?’ Marine fish produce their blood in three different organs: the (cranial) kidney, the spleen, and the thymus. Mammals, most of you know, produce blood in lymph glands and bone marrow. Marine fish have neither of these. Their red blood cells (erythrocytes) are produced by the same tissues that produce their lymphoid response.
2. Name all the functions of a marine fish's gills?
Fish gills perform several functions. Probably the best known is gas exchange. Carbon dioxide passes out of the fish’s blood, through the gill membrane and into the surrounding water; oxygen passes from the water, through the gill membrane into the fish’s blood. However, marine fish gills perform part of the function that human kidneys perform – they eliminate small and only monovalent (single charge) ions from the blood. For example, sodium ions and chloride ions pass from the fish’s blood, through the gill membrane into the surrounding water. [If you missed only one of the functions, then give yourself half a point].
3. How many kidneys does a fish have? What is the function of the marine fish kidney(s)?
Marine fish have two kidneys. One is found up front, just behind the gill chamber and is referred to as the cranial kidney; the other is found in the abdomen, towards the tail and is referred to as the caudal kidney. The caudal kidney is considered very minor (unimportant until someone finds out why it's there!) and usually thin. If you had the correct answers to 1. then you know that one function of the cranial kidney is to produce blood for the fish. Another function is removing multivalent (more than one electrical charge) ions from the fish's blood. The cranial kidney is connected to the anus where multivalent ions are released into the surrounding water. The cranial kidney removes ions like sulfate, ammonia, magnesium, etc. Sodium and chloride are not processed through the kidney – see 2. above. [If you answered “1" for the number of kidneys and got the functions totally correct; give yourself half a point. If you answered “2" for the number of kidneys and missed no more than one of the functions; give yourself half a point. Unless your answer was specifically multivalent ions were removed by the kidney, you don’t get credit for that function.]
4. Describe what the marine fish stomach looks like.
Fish stomachs are all different shapes and sizes! This drives veterinarians nuts! Ever see a curly-q fry or a spring? Some marine fish stomachs look like a spring – no bulge or cavity like a human stomach – just a spiral portion of the intestinal track. (This is what the stomach of a Seahorse looks like, for example). Other stomachs have a cavity with extensions on it which are called ‘fingers.’ It has the appearance of a cow’s utter or human hand. Still others have many fingers of different shapes, lengths and widths. Veterinarians are still unsure just why there is such diversity and what the fingers do and why some fish have a few and others have many and still others have none. A particularly ‘freaky thing’ is that a shark will ‘spit out’ its stomach, turning it inside-out, then ‘swallow it’ again. This action takes a second or two. The stomach is obviously ‘cleaned out’ by this move, but no one understands why they do this and what prompts/initiates the action. [Give yourself half a point if your answer at least included something that looks like the human hand, with fingers coming off a pouch.]
5. The swim bladder is known to help the fish stabilize itself in the water. What gas is in the swim bladder?
Inquiring minds want to know. . .You can imagine that gathering such data isn’t easy. But this is what they ‘think’ they know: The gas is nitrogen. However, in deep sea fishes, there is oxygen mixed in. In fact, the deeper the fish lives, the higher the oxygen content in the bladder gas. Still, the gas is not air. When a fish is young, it may contain a bit of oxygen, but then the nitrogen takes over. Carbon dioxide is found only as a trace, when it is found at all.
6. How many lymph glands does a marine fish have?
Trick question. A marine fish has no lymph glands. See 1. Mean fish anatomy teachers ask the students to describe the condition of their postmortem marine fish’s lymph glands (usually after the student has throw away their necropsy fish). Can you imagine the look on the students’ faces when they ‘forgot’ to check the lymph gland?
7. Name all the functions of the fish mucous coating you can.
The function includes (but isn’t necessarily limited to): Contains proteins that inhibit pathogen attacks; contains fish antibodies to fight some diseases; keeps some bacteria off the skin; protects the skin; etc. [If you got two or more, give yourself full credit for this question].
8. What does a Tang eat?
This can be a semi-trick question. One has to ask, ‘How old is the Tang?’ in order to provide a definitive answer. Young Tangs eat copepods, plankton, algae, and a wide variety of foods. They are omnivores when young. As they grow and join large schools that swim miles around the ocean each day, they become more like herbivores seeking and consuming large quantities of sea algae. [If you answered “algae†or "vegetables" or "herbivore" only, give yourself half a point].
9. When a fish is 'piping' what is it doing? Name the primary cause(s) for a marine fish to do this.
Piping is when the marine fish goes to the water surface and gulps/swallows air. This is a reaction to not getting enough oxygen. The best answer to the second part of 9. is that either the water contains insufficient oxygen or the gills are being prevented from getting oxygen out from the water and into the fish’s blood. If the gills are infected, chemically ‘burned,’ injured/damaged, or malfunctioning, the fish may exhibit piping. [If you answered the first part correctly but didn’t give all the causes for piping, then give yourself half a point].
10 When a marine fish is under stress, does the blood count go up or down?
This may be the hardest question on this quiz. The answer is. . .EITHER ONE. A marine fish blood count (the number of red blood cells per unit volume of blood) will go up with some stressors and down with other stressors. A fish is considered to be under stress when its blood count is abnormal (either increased or decreased). This is why blood count is not a signal of stress UNLESS before the fish was stressed, the normal blood count was established. Obviously, the blood count is not much of a benefit in ailments. It isn’t usually a part of a typical set of diagnostic tests. [If you answered either “up†or “down†but not “either one†give yourself half a point].
Add a + after the number of questions you got correct if you knew my full name is:
William Lee Birch, Jr.
Each correct numbered (whole) response is worth one point. Half-points are possible but only in the circumstances noted above. If you didn’t look up, get help from another person, or have to get the responses, but had them in your head, then with regards to your knowledge of marine fishes:
9 to 10+ correct - you’re a top notch marine fish aquarist/ichthyologist – maybe a pro!
6.5+ up to 8.5+ correct - you’re an expert aquarist or ichthyology student;
4.5 up to 6.5 correct - you are a very good and well informed marine fish aquarist;
2 up to 4+ correct - you’re an average marine fish aquarist, reasonably informed; and
0 up to 1.5+ correct - you are likely a learning hobbyist or aquarist and like the marine fish hobby (and there’s nothing wrong with that!
)I hope you had some fun learning more about our fishy friends. I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend holiday.
Want another quiz? Different topic? Easier or the same difficulty?
