Fish scales are dermally derived, specifically in the mesoderm. This fact distinguishes them from reptile scales paleontologically. Genetically, the same genes involved in tooth and hair development in mammals are also involved in scale development.

Cosmoid scales

True cosmoid scales can only be found on the extinct Crossopterygians. The inner layer of the scale is made of lamellar bone. On top of this lies a layer of spongy or vascular bone and then a layer of dentine-like material called cosmine. The upper surface is keratin. The coelacanth has modified cosmoid scales that lack cosmine and are thinner than true cosmoid scales.

Ganoid scales

Ganoid scales can be found on gars (family Lepisosteidae) and bichirs and reedfishes (family Polypteridae). Ganoid scales are similar to cosmoid scales, but a layer of ganoin lies over the cosmine layer and under the enamel. They are diamond-shaped, shiny, and hard.

Placoid scales

Placoid scales are found on cartilaginous fish including sharks. These scales, also called denticles, are similar in structure to teeth.

Leptoid scales

Leptoid scales are found on higher-order bony fish. As they grow they add concentric layers. They are arranged so as to overlap in a head-to-tail direction, like roof tiles, allowing a smoother flow of water over the body and therefore reducing drag. They come in two forms:

Cycloid scales have a smooth outer edge, and are most common on fish with soft fin rays, such as salmon and carp.

Ctenoid scales have a toothed outer edge, and are usually found on fish with spiny fin rays, such as bass and crappie.

Reptilian scales

Reptile scale types include: cycloid, granular (which appear bumpy), and keeled (which have a center ridge).

The scales of all reptiles have an epidermal component (what one sees on the surface), but many lizards have osteoderms underlying the epidermal scale, as do crocodilians and turtles. Such scales are more properly termed scutes. Snakes, tuataras and many lizards lack osteoderms. All reptilian scales have a dermal papilla underlying the epidermal part, and it is there that the osteoderms, if present, would be formed.

General Description

The skin of most bony and cartilaginous fishes is covered by scales. Scales vary enormously in size, shape, structure, and extent, ranging from rigid armor plates in fishes such as shrimpfishes and boxfishes, to microscopic or absent in fishes such as eels and anglerfishes. The morphology of a scale can be used to identify the species of fish they came from.

Fish scales are produced from the mesoderm layer of the dermis, which distinguishes them from reptile scales. The same genes involved in tooth and hair development in mammals are also involved in scale development.

Also called dermal denticles, placoid scales are found on the cartilaginous fishes sharks, rays, and chimaeras. They are structurally homologous with vertebrate teeth "denticle" translates to "small tooth" , having a central pulp cavity supplied with blood vessels, surrounded by a conical layer of dentine, all of which sits on top of a rectangular basal plate that rests on the dermis. The outermost layer is composed of vitrodentine, a largely inorganic enamel-like substance. Placoid scales cannot grow in size, but rather more scales are added as the fish increases in size.

Sharks are entirely covered by placoid scales. Studies have found that the scales create tiny vortices that reduce drag, which makes swimming more efficient, as well as quieter compared to bony fishes. The amount of scale coverage is much less in rays and chimaeras. The rough, sandpaper-like texture of shark and ray skin, coupled with its toughness, has led it to be valued as a source of leather. Called shagreen, one of its many applications was in the historical manufacture of hand-grips for swords.

Cosmoid scales are found in the lobe-finned fishes coelacanths and lungfishes, and were probably derived from a fusion of placoid scales. They are composed of a layer of dense, lamellar bone called isopedine, above which is a layer of spongy bone supplied with blood vessels. The bone layers are covered by a dentine-like substance called cosmine and a superficial outer coating of vitrodentine. The scales of the modern coelacanth are modified by the loss of the cosmine layer, while the scales of modern lungfishes are modified by the loss of the dentine layer. Cosmoid scales increase in size through the growth of the lamellar bone layer.

Ganoid scales are found in the sturgeons, paddlefishes, gars, bowfin, and bichirs. They are derived from cosmoid scales, with a layer of dentine in the place of cosmine, and a layer of inorganic bone salt called ganoine in place of vitrodentine. Most are diamond-shaped and connected by peg-and-socket joints. In sturgeons, the scales are greatly d into armor plates along the sides and back, while in the bowfin the scales are greatly reduced in thickness to resemble cycloid scales.