Cyclostomes: Jawless Fish — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2016All living members of the class Cyclostomata are ectoparasites on some fishes. They have an elongated body bearing 6-15 pairs of gill slits for respiration. Cyclostomes have a sucking and circular mouth without jaws. Their body is devoid of scales and paired fins. Cranium and vertebral column are cartilaginous. Circulation is of closed type. Cyclostomes are marine but migrate for spawning to fresh water. After spawning, within a few days, they die. Their larvae, after metamorphosis, return to the ocean.
Cyclostomes are jawless fish with a circular, sucking mouth that function as ectoparasites on other fish. NTA specifically tests their unique features: the absence of jaws (replaced by a circular mouth), lack of paired fins, and cartilaginous skeleton. Students often confuse cyclostomes with jawed fish or assume they have regular fish features like scales and paired fins—they don't. Remember: Cyclostomes = NO jaws, NO paired fins, NO scales, but YES to gill slits, closed circulation, and cartilaginous skeleton. This appears in NEET because it tests whether you understand how primitive fish differ fundamentally from modern fish in anatomy and feeding mechanisms.
Choose the correct statement: NEET Year: NEET-II 2016
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 88 of 90 questions from the NEET 2026 paper were matched straight from the MedicNEET Biology question bank.
88/90MedicNEET's Biology question bank is built from the same NCERT lines NTA picks repeatedly. Not random MCQs — questions crafted exactly like NTA crafts them.