Types of fish

Ais forAnchovy

Scientific name: family: engraulidae

Anchovies are small, oily fish that are usually preserved in brine and matured. This process gives them a very strong flavour. Anchovies are used on pizza, on Caesar salad and as an ingredient in numerous other dishes. They are one of the main ingredients of Worcestershire Sauce.

Fish, Food

Photo by Bruce Robison/Corbis

Ais forAnglerfish

Anglerfish are small, predatory fish. They have one or more long, thin, flexible spines on their heads with a fleshy lump at the end. They can move this spine around and dangle the lump like bait in front of their mouths. Anglerfish are fairly rare and have an unusual way of reproducing. Male anglerfish are much smaller than females, and when they are mature they bite onto a female and then wither away to nothing but reproductive organs. They live like parasites on the female's bloodstream.

Fish

Photo by Vincent Angler

Bis forBream

Scientific name: abramis brama

Bream are freshwater fish found in lakes and slow-moving rivers in Europe. They are caught for food.

Fish

Photo by Tim Creque

Cis forCarp

Scientific name: family: cyprinidae

Carp are a large group of freshwater fish, which includes goldfish and koi. Other kinds of carp are caught for food.

Fish

Photo by pelican

Cis forCatfish

Scientific name: order: siluriformes

Catfish are named because they look like they have cat whiskers. They live at the bottom of rivers and lakes, and sometimes in coastal waters too. Most catfish eat dead matter they find at the bottom of waterways. Catfish range in size from very tiny to 10 feet long.

Fish

Photo by Matt Kieffer

Cis forCod

Scientific name: genus: gadus

Cod is the common name for a number of related fish. Cod eat sea snails, starfish, smaller fish and other sea creatures. Cod are caught for food, and their livers are used to make cod liver oil, which is rich in vitamin A, D and E.

Fish

Photo by André Mouraux

Eis forEel

Scientific name: order: anguilliformes

An eel is a long, thin fish. Instead of having separate small fins on their back end like other fish, they have one big long fin that goes all the way around their long tail. Eels eat other fish.

Fish

Photo by Mike Johnston

Fis forFish

Video: view

Fish live underwater, in either salt or fresh water. They can only breathe underwater, but they use gills to breathe, not lungs like we do. Fish are covered in scales. Some people keep very small fish in their houses as pets. The biggest kind of fish is a whale shark, which is just a really big kind of shark. Whales grow a lot bigger than sharks but they are not fish, as they don't have gills and have to come to the surface of the water to breathe, just like we do.

Fish

Photo by Silke Baron

Fis forFlounder

Scientific name: families: pleuronectidae and bothidae

Flounder is a common name for a large number of related flat fish species that typically live on the bottom of the sea where they camouflage with the sea bed. They eat smaller fish, catching them by surprise as their prey simply cannot see them.

Fish

Photo by Richard Giddins

Fis forFlying fish

Flying fish are a type of fish with very big fins. They can jump out of the water to get away from things that want to eat them, and then they glide through the air for some distance before they fall back into the water again. They can glide for around 50-400 metres, and reach speeds of up to 70km/h. Flying fish eat plankton, and are themselves eaten by tuna and dolphins.

Fish