Marine fish of many species are caught commercially for food. Fish respire through gills in the sides of their heads, allowing the fish to breath underwater. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish breathe through gills. Mammals are a large group of diverse animals that all have certain characteristics in common. Of course fish "count" as animals. Fish. A smaller number of species are farmed commercially. So fish is meat, and anyone who says it is not is an idiot. Sharks are fish, not mammals. Keys and cmspotts1219 have the best answers, imo. All fish share two traits: they live in water and they have a backbone—they are vertebrates. Learn more. [1] Fish are considered animals they are in the order pices. So What Are Mammals? Fish return to the water surface for air at varying intervals. Etymology. The five most well known classes of vertebrates (animals with backbones) are mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians. The animals in this group live in a variety of habitats ranging from coral reefs and kelp forests to rivers, streams, and the open ocean. The human population exploits a large number of other animal species for food, both of domesticated livestock species in animal husbandry and, mainly at sea, by hunting wild species. fish definition: 1. an animal that lives in water, is covered with scales, and breathes by taking water in through…. The name is instead related to the word "fitch", meaning a European polecat (Mustela putorius) or pelt thereof, due to the resemblance to that animal.The name comes from colonial Dutch equivalent fisse or visse.In the French language, the pelt of a polecat is also called fiche or fichet. Starfish aren't fish - finned, tailed animals with backbones - they are echinoderms, which are marine invertebrates.So scientists prefer to call these animals sea stars. Scientists have grouped animals into classes to make it easier to study them. They are not, after all, plants, fungi, or minerals, right? In order to find out why this is, we need to learn a bit more about what makes a mammal a mammal … and what makes a fish a fish! A shark is an fish, which is also an animal. Fish are animals, meat is the flesh of an animal, carnivores are animals that feed on the flesh of other animals for food and their are animals that eat fish so their carnivores too. Another is that fish are very old on the evolutionary scale. The common term starfish is confusing, though. Fish are found in every ocean, lake, river and stream in all corners of the globe, in many sizes, colours and species.Most fish (depending on size) tend to eat plankton in the water, insects and smaller fish.. Definitions. Gills perform the gas exchange between the water and the fish's blood. My question, however, arises from an observation that I have made as a vegan: Many people do not consider fish to be "animals" and thus believe that eating fish might be consistent with being vegan.