Cartilaginous fishes
The cartilaginous fish are so named because their skeleton is composed of cartilage which is not reinforced by the minerals that make bone. These minerals are only present in their teeth and skin. The class includes the sharks, sawfish, rays and chimaeras. The majority of them are marine, though a few do venture into brackish and freshwater.
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Fish types Featured in the following TV programmes
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Archived
Living Planet: Episode 1:THE BUILDING OF THE EARTH
David ATTENBOROUGH presents a natural history documentary about the oceans of the world and the life that lives in them.
Order
Ground sharks (Carcharhiniformes)The ground sharks (Carcharhiniformes) is an order of cartilaginous fish which includes the hammerhead sharks, cat sharks and requiem sharks. This is the biggest order of sharks, and they are found in marine, brackish and freshwater.
Lamniformes
Great white shark (species)Orectolobiformes
Whale shark (species)
Rays, skates and allies (Rajiformes)Rays, skates and their allies, the Rajiformes, are an order of cartilaginous fish containing 12 families. Fish in this group generally have flat bodies and a large pectoral fin that forms a disc.
Earth Explorers
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Swimming with sharks
Diving with lemon sharks at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, producer James Brickell came across an underwater 'bus' coming towards him out of the shadows.
About
Chondrichthyes (pronounced /kɑːnˈdrɪk.θiːˌiːz/) or cartilaginous fishes are jawed fish with paired fins, paired nares, scales, two-chambered hearts, and skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. They are divided into two subclasses: Elasmobranchii (sharks, rays and skates) and Holocephali (chimaera, sometimes called ghost sharks, which are sometimes separated into their own class).
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Featured in...
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David Attenborough's favourite moments
David Attenborough's favourite moments from the last 30 years represent not only memorable personal experiences, but also the diversity of life on our planet and the rapidly changing technological face of broadcasting.
Scientific Classification
Class: Chondrichthyes
Other members of the same phylum
- Amphibians (Amphibia)
- Barnacles, copepods and allies (Maxillopoda)
- Birds (Aves)
- Cephalopods (Cephalopoda)
- Insects (Insecta)
- Jellyfish (Scyphozoa)
- Lobe-finned fishes and allies (Sarcopterygii)
- Lobsters, woodlice and allies (Malacostraca)
- Mammals (Mammalia)
- Millipedes (Diplopoda)
- Polychaete worms (Polychaeta)
- Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)
- Reptiles (Reptilia)
- Sea urchins (Echinoidea)
- Spiders, mites and allies (Arachnida)
- Starfish (Asteroidea)
Elsewhere on the web
- Chondrichthyes (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- Chondrichthyes (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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