🐟
External Anatomy
Pectoral Fins
Pinnae pectorales
The paired fins just behind the head - equivalent to front limbs, used for braking, turning, hovering, and precision movement.
Region: Trunk Externally visible Universal in fish Unique to: all
📖 Overview
Pectorals are a fishs arms. They evolved into wings in flying fish, walking limbs in mudskippers and frogfish, feeding structures in sea robins, and stingers in weeverfish. In most species they provide the fine-motor control that the tail cannot - stopping, backing up, hovering, and pivoting.
🐠 Variations Across Species
Rays have massive pectoral wings for undulatory swimming. Flying fish spread pectorals like glider wings for extended aerial escapes. Mudskippers walk on pectorals. Anglerfish frogfish use them to grasp substrate. Manta rays have pectoral spans up to 7m.
✨ Fun Fact
A flying fish can glide up to 400m on a single leap, holding pectorals stiff at speeds of 60+ km/h - the highest sustained fish flight ever recorded.
🔗 Related External Structures