CFP Fish Biology & Physiology 3

Question 1

What term describes the bright or distinctive colors many fish develop during spawning season to attract mates?

Accepted Answer

Nuptial coloration

Answer

Countershading

Answer

Disruptive coloration

Answer

Chromatophore activation

Question 2

Which hormone class plays the primary role in triggering smoltification in juvenile Pacific salmon?

Accepted Answer

Thyroid hormones (thyroxine)

Answer

Estrogens

Answer

Insulin

Answer

Androgens

Question 3

What is the migratory life history pattern of catadromous fish such as American eels?

Accepted Answer

Born in the ocean, migrate to freshwater to grow, return to the ocean to spawn

Answer

Born in freshwater, migrate to sea to grow, return to freshwater to spawn

Answer

Complete their entire life cycle within freshwater habitats

Answer

Migrate seasonally between coastal estuaries and offshore habitats

Question 4

What type of muscle tissue comprises the majority of body mass in most fish and powers burst swimming?

Accepted Answer

White glycolytic (fast-twitch) muscle

Answer

Cardiac muscle

Answer

Red oxidative (slow-twitch) muscle

Answer

Smooth visceral muscle

Question 5

How do most cartilaginous fish (sharks and rays) achieve buoyancy in the absence of a swim bladder?

Accepted Answer

By storing large quantities of low-density squalene oil in an enlarged liver

Answer

By pumping gas into a flexible dorsal sac

Answer

By inflating the stomach with swallowed air

Answer

By regulating body fluid osmolarity to reduce density

Question 6

What is the cloaca in fish anatomy?

Accepted Answer

A common posterior chamber and opening for the digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracts

Answer

A specialized gill arch modified for filter feeding

Answer

The muscular fore-stomach region preceding the pylorus

Answer

A chemoreceptor pit on the snout used for olfaction

Question 7

Which reproductive strategy involves a male fish fertilizing eggs laid by multiple females in a single nest and then guarding the nest?

Accepted Answer

Polygyny with paternal care

Answer

Broadcast spawning

Answer

Sequential hermaphroditism

Answer

Mouth brooding