Fun Facts
1. Fish scales are shiny and hard because they are made of a substance called ganoin, which is similar to the enamel on our teeth, making them harder than steel.
2. Only a few living fish still have this kind of skin armor. These include gars, bichirs, and coelacanths.
3. The indigenous people of southeastern North America may have used the scales of modern alligator gars (a huge fish resembling an alligator) as tiny arrowheads.