28 Fish Facts For Kids

1. Fish is the common name for a large group of aquatic gill-bearing animals that belong to the Veterbrata subphylum.
2. Fish species are easy to recognize by living in water, having gills, having scales, and lack of limbs with digits.
3. Scientists have recognized and described around 34,300 different species of fish.
4. The first living organisms that could be classified as fish appeared between 500 and 600 million years ago.
5. Fish come in an enormous variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, all depended on the fish species and where they live.
6. Fish are found all around in world in virtually any body of water if it is not too polluted to support life.
7. Some fish species live in freshwater, while others live in salt water (ocean), and some can thrive in both.
8. The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is an example of a fish species that can only live in freshwater.
9. The common clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) is an example of a fish species that can only live in saltwater.
10. The common molly (Poecilia sphenops) is an example of a fish species that can live in both freshwater and saltwater.
11. Some fish species are solitary and travel alone, while others are social and create large groups called schools.
12. The Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) is an example of a fish species that lives a solitary life.
13. The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is an example of a fish species that is social and travels in large schools.
14. Diets vary between fish species, some are carnivorous, while others are herbivorous, and many are omnivorous.
15. Fish still breath oxygen, even though they spend their entire live underwater.
16. Fish can breathe oxygen underwater by using their gills.
17. A fish’s gills work by capturing dissolved oxygen in water, via capillaries within the gills, as water pass runs over them.
18. Fish have several different types of fins on their body that allow them to move and be agile in the water.
19. The largest fish species is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) with an average length between 26 and 48 feet.
20. The smallest fish species is the Paedocypris progenetica with a maximum length of only 0.41 inches.
21. The fastest swimming fish species is the Indo-Pacific sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) with swimming speeds over 100 miles per hour.
22. The most venomous fish species is the reef stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa) with its verrucotoxin protein in its spines.
23. Sport fishing (recreational fishing) is the art of catching fish for fun or competition.
24. Commercial fishing is the art of catching fish for food production and other various materials obtained from fish.
25. Heavy commercial fishing can result in overfishing and greatly deplete fish populations and even cause them to go extinct.
26. The word fish is used in a lot of specie names that aren’t biologically fish, like the crayfish, jellyfish, and starfish.
27. A person who creates and maintains aquariums with fish is called an aquarist.
28. A person who goes to studies fish is called an ichthyologist.

Fish Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on fish. Below are six pictures of various fish species. These pictures should help you better understand the different types of fish found around the world.

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