Hill stream adaptation

1.What is the primary factor in the evolution of hill stream

fishes?
Answer: Strength of water currents

2.Why do hill stream fishes need to adapt to intense light

conditions?
Answer: Due to the shallow and clear water

3.What is the favorable condition for fishes inhabiting hill

streams regarding oxygen?
Answer: Abundance of oxygen due to rapid water flow.

4.How would you describe the temperature in hill streams?

Answer: Generally cooler but can get heated by the sun.

5.What is the primary source of food for hill stream fishes?

Answer: Algae covering stones and rocks.
6.Which order does the important fishes of hill streams belong
to?
Answer: Cypriniformes

7.What structural modification do hill stream fishes have to

prevent being swept away by fast currents?
Answer: Flattened ventral surface

8.Why are hill stream fishes generally small in size?

Answer: To hide under rocks and prevent being crushed by
rolling stones.

9.What is the condition of scales and bony armor in hill stream

fishes?
Answer: Poorly developed, with the absence of scales on the
ventral side.

10.How is the mouth of hill stream fishes positioned?

Answer: Shifted towards the ventral side, behind the tip of the
snout.

11.What is the function of barbels in hill stream fishes?

Answer: Short and stumpy, specialized for specific functions.

12.Where are the eyes typically located on hill stream fish

heads?
Answer: Pushed toward the upper surface of the head.

13.In which family is Balitora found?

Answer: Balitoridae

14.What are the fins used for in hill stream fishes?

Answer: Organs of locomotion and attachment

15.How are the paired fins modified in some hill stream fishes?
Answer: Outer rays are modified for adhesion.

16.What shape is the caudal peduncle in hill stream fishes?

Answer: Long, narrow, and muscular band-shaped.

17.What is the function of the lower lobe of the caudal fin in hill
stream fishes?
Answer: It is longer than the upper lobe and aids in stability.
18.How are the pectoral and pelvic fins modified in some hill
stream species?
Answer: Modified for adhesion, with fused bones and keel-like
ridges.

19.Where are the gill slits typically located in hill stream fishes?
Answer: On the sides of the fish.

20.Why can hill stream fishes effectively respire despite the

location of their gill slits?
Answer: Small gill openings, well-oxygenated water, and
constant motion of pectoral fin inner rays.

21.What happens to the air bladder in hill stream fishes?

Answer: It is reduced or degenerate because buoyancy is a
disadvantage in swift currents.

22.What is one of the major adaptations in hill stream fishes to

avoid being swept away in rapid currents?
Answer: Skin modifications to form adhesive organs.
23.What are the adhesive organs in Glyptosternum and
Pseudoecheneis made of?
Answer: A series of ridges on the ventral surface of the body.

24.What skin modifications are present in Erethistes?

Answer: Elongate, well-developed striations on the chest and
belly.

25.What type of adhesive apparatus is present in Glyptothorax?

Answer: A well-developed U-shaped or V-shaped apparatus

26.How is the adhesive organ in Garra fish?

Answer: It is in the form of a disc behind mouth.

27.Which of the following is hill stream fish of india ?

Answer: Baltoria , Barbus,Garra