Operculum (fish) required, such as ventilation.. Operculum (fish) The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. The opercular series contains four bone segments known as the preoperculum, suboperculum, interoperculum and operculum. The preoperculum is a crescent-shaped structure that has a series of ridges directed posterodorsally to the organisms canal pores. The preoperculum can be located through an exposed condyle that is present immediately under its ventral margin; it also borders the operculum, suboperculum, and interoperculum posteriorly. The
Operculum (fish) the shape is visible and then the individual components are developed days later. The size and shape of the operculum bone is dependent on the organism's location. For example, fresh water threespine sticklebacks form a less dense and smaller opercular series in relation to marine threespine sticklebacks. The marine threespine stickleback exhibits a larger and thicker opercular series. This provides evidence that there was an evolutionary change in the operculum bone. The thicker and more dense bone may have been favored due to selective pressures exerted from the threespine stickleback's environment. The development of the operculuar series has changed dramatically