Electroreception allows sharks to detect what?

The faint electrical fields of living animals

The lateral line in fish senses what?

Movement and pressure changes in the water

Deep-sea anglerfish attract prey using what?

A luminous lure produced by bacteria

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Oceans & Marine Life Medium ⚡ 10 Questions ⏱️ ~7 Mins +100 XP

Sharks, Rays and the Fish Between Them

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Fish are not one group behaving similarly. They are several, and the differences matter.

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About this topic

Calling something a fish groups together animals separated by hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Sharks and rays build their skeletons from cartilage rather than bone; most familiar fish are bony and carry a gas-filled bladder for buoyancy that sharks lack entirely. These questions cover those divisions and the adaptations that follow from them, including senses no land animal has and a few genuinely strange life histories.

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Sharks, Rays and the Fish Between Them: all 10 questions and answers

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1Sharks and rays differ from most fish because their skeletons are made of what?
- A Bone
- B Chitin
- C Calcium plates only
- D Cartilage Correct
Answer: D. Cartilage

Why: Cartilage is lighter than bone, which partly compensates for having no swim bladder to provide buoyancy.
2Sharks first appear in the fossil record before which of these?
- A Fish
- B Bacteria
- C Trees Correct
- D Insects
Answer: C. Trees

Why: Shark ancestors predate the first forests by a considerable margin, which is why they are often described as older than trees.
3A swim bladder allows a bony fish to do what?
- A Store food
- B Control its buoyancy Correct
- C Breathe air
- D Detect sound
Answer: B. Control its buoyancy

Why: Sharks lack one and rely on a large oily liver and constant movement instead, which is why many cannot stop swimming.
4Electroreception allows sharks to detect what?
- A The faint electrical fields of living animals Correct
- B Light in deep water
- C Magnetic north only
- D Changes in salinity
Answer: A. The faint electrical fields of living animals

Why: Jelly-filled pores around the snout, the ampullae of Lorenzini, detect the fields muscles produce — useful for prey buried in sand.
5The lateral line in fish senses what?
- A Temperature only
- B Light levels
- C Chemical traces
- D Movement and pressure changes in the water Correct
Answer: D. Movement and pressure changes in the water

Why: It is what lets a school turn almost simultaneously, and how a blind cave fish navigates.
6The largest fish in the world is which?
- A The blue whale
- B The manta ray
- C The whale shark Correct
- D The great white shark
Answer: C. The whale shark

Why: The blue whale is larger but is a mammal. The whale shark is a filter feeder taking plankton and small fish.
7Rays are most closely related to what?
- A Octopuses
- B Sharks Correct
- C Eels
- D Tuna
Answer: B. Sharks

Why: Both are cartilaginous fish. A ray is essentially built on a flattened body plan with the gills underneath.
8Which fish famously changes sex during its life?
- A The clownfish Correct
- B The salmon
- C The cod
- D The herring
Answer: A. The clownfish

Why: In clownfish groups the dominant individual becomes female, and if she dies the largest male changes sex to replace her.
9Deep-sea anglerfish attract prey using what?
- A A loud call
- B Electrical discharge
- C Reflected sunlight
- D A luminous lure produced by bacteria Correct
Answer: D. A luminous lure produced by bacteria

Why: The light comes from symbiotic bacteria. In several species the much smaller male fuses permanently to the female.
10Eels of the European and American species breed where?
- A Coastal estuaries
- B The Arctic Ocean
- C The Sargasso Sea Correct
- D European rivers
Answer: C. The Sargasso Sea

Why: They cross the Atlantic to spawn there. Their life cycle was unknown for centuries and parts of it have still never been observed.

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