Do fish breathe? Yes. Fish can breathe underwater thanks to their gills, and how do gills work? With a system of fins that retain oxygen from the water.If you are wondering how fish breathe, you are definitely a curious person. Like all living organisms, fish also need oxygen to breathe and they take it through their gills. Let’s see in detail how fish breathe.
Fish Breathing: The Use of Gills
How do gills work? The gills are two openings located on the sides of the head. They are fundamental organs as they allow oxygen to be absorbed into the water. The water is conveyed into the gills where there are dense lamellae: it is here that the oxygen is separated from the water and absorbed by the blood vessels. The water, loaded with oxygen, enters the fish’s mouth when the gills are closed. The same water, deprived of oxygen, is released back out through the open gills.
The gills open and close rhythmically, much like we humans inhale and exhale air by inflating and deflating our lungs.
How Fish Breathe
The gills of fish are a real organ responsible for breathing . Some terrestrial animals also have them (annelids and arthropods). The structure of the gills can vary anatomically.
Pay close attention: fish do not remove oxygen from the water molecule (H2O) but simply absorb the oxygen dissolved in the water.
The concentration of dissolved oxygen in water is much lower than that in the gaseous mixture called “air”. In the air we breathe, the concentration of oxygen is around 21%. In water, the concentration of dissolved oxygen is around 1%.
To maintain extraction efficiency, water in the gills of fish flows in the opposite direction to the blood. In this way, a difference in concentration gradient is maintained that allows a favorable exchange (oxygen absorption occurs spontaneously) without bringing into play mechanisms that would see energy consumption. Thanks to the anatomical structure of the gills, fish are able to retain 80% of the oxygen contained in the water.
How do dolphins breathe?
How do whales breathe?
Whales and dolphins do not have a respiratory system like fish. Even though they share the same habitat, whales and dolphins are not fish.
How do dolphins breathe?
The breathing mechanism of dolphins, like that of whales, is more similar to that of humans. It may seem absurd to you but the respiratory system of dolphins is more similar to that of humans than that of other fish!
Dolphins, like other mammals, have lungs and take in oxygen from the air. This is why dolphins often come out of the water regularly. They take in air through their nostrils, which are located on the top of their heads. Dolphins take in oxygen from the air they take in during their characteristic jumps.
Artificial Gills: Breathe Underwater Like Fish
It would be nice to breathe underwater just like fish. This idea has also crossed the minds of researchers and biomechanical engineers. For several years, international research teams have been trying to create a sort of artificial gill . The artificial gill, just like that of fish, should be able to separate the oxygen dissolved in water and make it available for pulmonary respiration.
This system would allow men to go underwater using a device that replaces tanks. Today, to go underwater, divers must drag a large piece of equipment and are bound by time limits. The artificial gill would allow infinite autonomy, tied only to the resistance of the human body.
Not only research, there are already prototypes to breathe underwater like fish . In Israel a device known as “Like a fish” was presented, while the prototype Donkey artificial gill (gill, in English, means gill) has existed since 1971 but has some limitations to be “corrected”.
If fish gills have organic lamellae, synthetic gills would be made of silicone. Just like gill lamellae, the particular silicone would be permeable only to gas molecules and not to water. Oxygen would be able to pass through, leaving water outside.
Artificial gills have been classified among the 10 possible useful innovations that could be usable in the next 30 years. The idea is not only to be able to breathe underwater. The possibility of extracting oxygen dissolved in a liquid would open up new scenarios in various sectors. Remaining in an underwater environment, an artificial gill would be able to open up a series of infinite possibilities in the field of diving and underwater exploration.