Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Osmoregulation in Fish

  Every habitat in the marine environment has its own unique structure and problems that the organisms living there have to deal with. Unlike terrestrial creatures, fish (and other marine creatures) have to overcome or adapt to these problems. Most of the adaptations that fish have are aimed at maintaining the balance between their internal conditions and the external environment. The systems of fish are very sensitive and can work in a certain narrow range of conditions. For this reason, fish have to keep their internal environment in a certain balance, regardless of environmental conditions. 

Osmoregulation in Fish (Regulation of Water-Salt Balance)

  Osmoregulation is a biological phenomenon that ensures the maintenance of a certain, appropriate salt-water balance in the organism. Living cells need an environment that contains certain substances, including ions, dissolved in water and in certain densities. It contains the internal environment required by the cells of fish, namely body fluids, dissolved salts and organic compounds.

The amounts of these substances determine the osmotic density of body fluids. Osmotic density is expressed as milli-oz-mole/kilogram, briefly mOsm/kg.

Deviations from the normal state, such as dehydration or excess water intake, changes in body ion concentrations, can lead to physiologically dangerous situations. The organs responsible for osmoregulation in fish are mainly kidneys and gills. In addition to playing a role in removing excess water with some of the metabolic wastes, the kidneys also excrete some mineral salts or It also keeps it in the body. On the other hand, the gills, which function as the primary respiratory organ, also contain nitrogenous substances formed as a result of metabolism. It has an important role in  removing some ions from the environment by throwing out most of the wastes. Also in other vertebrates As with fish, intestine and skin also play a role in osmoregulation.

As with other vertebrates, most fish are osmoregulators. In other words, it can regulate its osmotic environment in the body appropriately, albeit limitedly, according to the changing environmental osmotic conditions. In this context, a narrow salinity that cannot adapt to salinity changes in the environment Fish that can tolerate a change in salinity are called stenohaline, and fish that can adapt to a wide salinity distribution with osmoregulation are called eurichaline fish.


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ABDULMAJID HASSAN WEHLIE
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