Do fish drink water?
- Thread starter thartley
- Start date
Jared Meyer
Veteran
Yes.
(Yes they drink water, not yes you're an idiot)
(Yes they drink water, not yes you're an idiot)
KingVidiot
Well-known member
Well, they don't drink it as we do, that is not just to drink it. They get it as they swallow food, from the food itself (all life contains water), and they make it metabolically (cellular respiration processes).
It's funny that you brought this up since this book title is written the same way:
http://www.amazon.ca/Fish-Drink-Water-Improbable-Questions/dp/0688179088
It's funny that you brought this up since this book title is written the same way:
http://www.amazon.ca/Fish-Drink-Water-Improbable-Questions/dp/0688179088
MalcolmOng
Veteran
Yeap. If we ever have a water shortage, its always the fish
KingVidiot
Well-known member
JFReyes said:
Since fish blood (tissue) and the salt water have roughly the same percentage of salt (for geeks keeping score, that's NaCl or sodium chloride), then osmosis would not really work in the ocean since there is not enough of a gradient, so that's probably correct. They probably have an active transport setup to create a pathway for water to diffuse into the body. We also have a similar percentage of salt in our blood like in sea water.
Just think of what happens to a frog. Through osmosis, fresh water enters the body which enlarges them (just like the wrinkled effect your skin gets in the tub from water intake) and salt water would cause them to dehydrate and shrivel.
Many marine birds are able to drink salt water and extract the salt through special nasal protuberances much like nostrils on their bills (so called "tubenoses" like albatrosses and shearwaters). The highly concentrated salt water and crystals seep out of their bills.
Cool stuff, huh?
Rick Meyer
Veteran
KingVidiot said:
Not sure I follow. If you are saying fresh water makes frogs enlarged, and salt water would make them shrivel, why would fresh water make us shrivel? Not sure I get the connection...
Anhar_Miah
Veteran
Hey kimko, never fear, err I'm here...
hmm, I do not have much data in my head about fish or paraphyletic group to be more accurate, other than knowing that they are water living environment vertabrates with around 30,000 different species and gills system that allows them to extract oxygen from water.
The weird thing is when someone drowns, it is not because of taking in fluids into the lungs system, but becuause our lung system was not designed to extract oxygen effeciently from liquids, hence we suffocate!
There was alleged experiments by the USA military with Oxygenated water (also known as liquid Breathing[1] or Total Liquid Ventilation), on humans. Hmm probably did not go to well....
Anyhow, I did not know that fish drinked water, thats something I shall treasure, I love information, I am an Information junky.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing
hmm, I do not have much data in my head about fish or paraphyletic group to be more accurate, other than knowing that they are water living environment vertabrates with around 30,000 different species and gills system that allows them to extract oxygen from water.
The weird thing is when someone drowns, it is not because of taking in fluids into the lungs system, but becuause our lung system was not designed to extract oxygen effeciently from liquids, hence we suffocate!
There was alleged experiments by the USA military with Oxygenated water (also known as liquid Breathing[1] or Total Liquid Ventilation), on humans. Hmm probably did not go to well....
Anyhow, I did not know that fish drinked water, thats something I shall treasure, I love information, I am an Information junky.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing
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