Branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ichthyology</span>

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations.  (February 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Ichthyology

<p><b>Ichthyology</b> is the branch of <a href="/en/Zoology" title="Zoology" class="wl">zoology</a> devoted to the study of <a href="/en/Fish" title="Fish" class="wl">fish</a>, including bony fish (<a href="/en/Osteichthyes" title="Osteichthyes" class="wl">Osteichthyes</a>), cartilaginous fish (<a href="/en/Chondrichthyes" title="Chondrichthyes" class="wl">Chondrichthyes</a>), and jawless fish (<a href="/en/Agnatha" title="Agnatha" class="wl">Agnatha</a>). According to <a href="/en/FishBase" title="FishBase" class="wl">FishBase</a>, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October 2016, with approximately 250 new species described each year.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/en/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" class="wl"><span>citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup></p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1097763485" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}html.client-js body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .mbox-text-span{margin-left:23px!important}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}</style>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1096954695/mw-parser-output/.tmulti" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}</style><div class="thumb tmulti tright" about="#mwt5"><div class="thumbinner multiimageinner" style="width:292px;max-width:292px"><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:172px;max-width:172px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:113px;overflow:hidden"><span><a href="/en/File:Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg"><img loading="lazy" alt="Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg/170px-Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="3456" data-file-height="2304" data-file-type="bitmap" height="113" width="170" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg/255px-Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg/340px-Male_whale_shark_at_Georgia_Aquarium.jpg 2x"></a></span></div></div><div class="tsingle" style="width:116px;max-width:116px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:113px;overflow:hidden"><span><a href="/en/File:Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg"><img loading="lazy" alt="Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg/114px-Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="300" data-file-type="bitmap" height="114" width="114" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg/171px-Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg/228px-Paedocypris_progenetica_001.jpg 2x"></a></span></div></div></div><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:290px;max-width:290px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:191px;overflow:hidden"><span><a href="/en/File:Jõesilmud2.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Jõesilmud2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" alt="J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg/288px-J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="4057" data-file-height="2703" data-file-type="bitmap" height="192" width="288" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg/432px-J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg/576px-J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg 2x"></a></span></div></div></div><div class="trow" style="display:flex"><div class="thumbcaption">Ichthyology covers a diverse range of body forms and sizes.
<ul><li>top: <a href="/en/Whale_shark" title="Whale shark" class="wl">whale shark</a> and <i><a href="/en/Paedocypris_progenetica" title="Paedocypris progenetica" class="wl">Paedocypris progenetica</a></i></li>
<li>bottom: <a href="/en/European_river_lamprey" title="European river lamprey" class="wl">European river lamprey</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div>


Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish , cartilaginous fish , and jawless fish . According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October 2016, with approximately 250 new species described each year. 