{"id":4011,"date":"2017-06-14T11:17:51","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T11:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/fish-stories\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T11:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:12:07","slug":"cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are two types of fish that can be quite difficult to tell apart. Firstly cartilaginous fish have skeletons composed of cartilage. Secondly, bony fish have, yes you guessed it, bone skeletons! Their biological classifications are Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes respectively.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes<\/h2>\n<p>There are more than 20,000 fish species in the world of the phylum <em><a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/exploringourfluidearth\/biological\/invertebrates\/phylum-chordata\">Chordata<\/a><\/em> and superclass <a href=\"http:\/\/notesonzoology.com\/vertebrates\/pisces\/pisces-characters-and-classification-vertebrates-chordata-zoology\/7828\">Pisces<\/a>. The reason for this is that more than half of the chordates are generally fishes. From this category, fishes are classified as either Osteichthyes or Chondrichthyes (bony fish or cartilaginous fish). As a result, we\u2019re going to go through a comparison between bony and cartilaginous fish.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Telling them apart<\/h2>\n<p>Learning the differences between them can be difficult if you don\u2019t know what to look for. Once you know what to look for, you\u2019ll do it with ease.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bony Fish<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes referred to as <em>Teleostomi<\/em>. Considered the largest class in Phylum Chordata. Widely recognized due to the characteristics:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An endoskeleton entirely made of bone (Hence bony fish).<\/li>\n<li>Possess an anterior tip mouth opening.<\/li>\n<li>Either freshwater or marine.<\/li>\n<li>An exoskeleton made of cycloids (thin bony plates). Aligned based on whether the outer edges are spiny or smooth<\/li>\n<li>They have an <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Operculum_(fish)\" rel=\"nofollow\">operculum<\/a> on either side of their gills<\/li>\n<li>They possess an air bladder that also performs hydrostatic functions<\/li>\n<li>Their tail fin is homocercal. Their fin appears symmetrical. However, their backbone passes through the upper half.<\/li>\n<li>They fertilize their eggs externally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some of the fish in this category include flying fish, globefish, sea horses, and <a href=\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/discover\/animals\/electric-eel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">eels<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Cartilaginous Fish<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sometimes referred to as <em>Elasmobranchii<\/em>. They\u2019re primarily marine fishes. They generally possess the following characteristics:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An endoskeleton primarily composed of cartilage (Hence cartilaginous fish).<\/li>\n<li>An exoskeleton made of placoid (very small <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Denticle#:~:text=A%20denticle%20is%20any%20small,the%20pulp%20of%20a%20tooth\" rel=\"nofollow\">denticles<\/a> coated with lots of sharp enamel)<\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/esi.stanford.edu\/respiration\/respiration2.htm\">ventral buccal cavity<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Fins are heterocercal (non-symmetrical. Usually, the top is longer).<\/li>\n<li>5 overly exposed gills (They do not have an operculum).<\/li>\n<li>Their mode of fertilization is through internal mechanisms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some of the common fish in this group include dogfish, skates, electric rays, and <a href=\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/discover\/animals\/\">sharks<\/a>.\u00a0If you understand these differences, you\u2019ll find it\u2019s much easier to tell them apart!<\/p>\n<p>Interested in looking for these differences firsthand? Plan a trip to Blue Planet Aquarium and discover all sorts of amazing animals! Fancy the ultimate <a href=\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/dives\/adult-shark-dives\/\">up-close experience<\/a>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are two types of fish that can be quite difficult to tell apart. Firstly cartilaginous fish have skeletons composed of cartilage. Secondly, bony fish have, yes you guessed it, bone skeletons! Their biological classifications are Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes respectively. Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes There are more than 20,000 fish species in the world of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blueplanetaquarium.com\/fish-stories\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fish-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish - Blue Planet Aquarium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is a world of difference between subsets of fish, learn with us as we discuss the differences between cartilaginous fish and bony fish.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish - Blue Planet Aquarium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is a world of difference between subsets of fish, learn with us as we discuss the differences between cartilaginous fish and bony fish.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Planet Aquarium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-14T11:17:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-27T10:12:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bpa.banc.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"999\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/\",\"name\":\"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish - Blue Planet Aquarium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-14T11:17:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-27T10:12:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#\/schema\/person\/bd01793fc7bd17d848523b4465bb4154\"},\"description\":\"There is a world of difference between subsets of fish, learn with us as we discuss the differences between cartilaginous fish and bony fish.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":999,\"caption\":\"Female Cuckoo Wrasse, bony or cartilaginous?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Planet Aquarium\",\"description\":\"Discover a world beneath the waves\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#\/schema\/person\/bd01793fc7bd17d848523b4465bb4154\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish - Blue Planet Aquarium","description":"There is a world of difference between subsets of fish, learn with us as we discuss the differences between cartilaginous fish and bony fish.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish - Blue Planet Aquarium","og_description":"There is a world of difference between subsets of fish, learn with us as we discuss the differences between cartilaginous fish and bony fish.","og_url":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/","og_site_name":"Blue Planet Aquarium","article_published_time":"2017-06-14T11:17:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-27T10:12:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":999,"url":"https:\/\/bpa.banc.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/","url":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/","name":"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish - Blue Planet Aquarium","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-14T11:17:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-27T10:12:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#\/schema\/person\/bd01793fc7bd17d848523b4465bb4154"},"description":"There is a world of difference between subsets of fish, learn with us as we discuss the differences between cartilaginous fish and bony fish.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Cuckoo-Wrasse-Bristol-Aquarium3.jpg","width":1500,"height":999,"caption":"Female Cuckoo Wrasse, bony or cartilaginous?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/blog\/cartilaginous-fish-vs-bony-fish-differences-between-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cartilaginous Fish vs. Bony Fish"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/","name":"Blue Planet Aquarium","description":"Discover a world beneath the waves","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#\/schema\/person\/bd01793fc7bd17d848523b4465bb4154","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103125,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4011\/revisions\/103125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/bpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}