For some reason, this is a very searched for question. So, let’s dive straight into it.
Are fish mammals? Fish are not mammals and they generally fall in a class called “bony fish”. The major differences are that mammals breathe through lungs and give birth to live young. For the first few weeks of their lives, their babies are fed milk produced by special glands. They will have hair or fur on their bodies. Mammals can also regulate their body temperature metabolically and hormonally in order to keep it constant. All these characteristics are not seen in fish.
Birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and fish are separate vertebrate animals. Each of these categories has different characteristics from one another. Fish breathe water, not air like other animals, with the help of gills that are present instead of lungs. They live in water bodies for their whole lives, lay eggs, and have fins in place of limbs.
Fish and marine mammals have similar morphology that helps them to thrive in the aquatic environment. But both of them are very different from one another in unique ways even though they both survive in aquatic habitats.
Many people even confuse fish with amphibians. But they are not amphibians as well.
It is true that amphibians lay eggs. But they live inside water as babies and this time they are breathing through gills. After that, they undergo metamorphosis and as a result, they turn into animals that breathe through lungs. However, they return to the water for breeding.
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A fish can be a perfect pet for those who love animals but do not have space or time to have a dog or cat. Not only they are inexpensive but they are low maintenance pets as well. The tranquil environment they produce and their bright colors can very well brighten up any home.
They are also perfect for those people who suffer from an allergic reaction. You can give fish as pets to kids to teach them about ways to care responsibly for an animal for the very first time.
How to choose a fish for a pet
The task of choosing a fish to keep as a pet might seem simple but there is a lot of things that you need to consider when choosing one. In total there are about 28000 species of fish. Out of which around 2000 are exotic tropical fish or humble goldfish that you can keep as pets as they have what it takes to survive a home aquarium.
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Research well
When choosing a fish, you need to make sure that you can create the right environment so that it thrives well. The needs of coldwater fish, tropical marine fish, and tropical freshwater fish are all different. So, when deciding, first you need to go through a simple checklist mentioned next:
- Budget
Fish are inexpensive but you need to set up an aquarium that has all the right plants and filtration systems. If you have a set budget in mind then your shopping spree in a pet store will be fruitful.
- Space
When choosing a fish, the size of the tank happens to be one of the major factors in determining which fish to get. There are some fish that need a large aquarium. Whereas fish like goldfish can stay happy in a small environment as long as other set up has been done correctly.
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- Water Condition
The hardest thing about owning a fish is to correctly manage the water temperature, pH level, and hardness. It is true that fish are sensitive to their environment. Thus, understanding how to maintain an optimal water condition is essential before selecting the fish.
- Number of fish
Not all fish get along. There are many large fish that see smaller fish as their prey. Thus, before you keep all your fish together, do ensure that no fish will be eaten by another fish of yours. Take the help of the pet store to ensure the combination of fish chosen by you is correct or not. Now you know whether fish are mammals or not and how to select the right fish to keep as pets. So, all that is left to do is research well and you will be able to select the right fish for you and your home.