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The gills are composed of comb-like filaments, the gill lamellae, which help increase their surface area for oxygen exchange. [5] When a fish breathes, it draws in a mouthful of water at regular intervals. Then it draws the sides of its throat together, forcing the water through the gill openings, so it passes over the gills to the outside.
The gill arches of bony fish typically have no septum, so that the gills alone project from the arch, supported by individual gill rays. Some species retain gill rakers . Though all but the most primitive bony fish lack a spiracle, the pseudobranch associated with it often remains, being located at the base of the operculum.
The name Elasmobranchii comes from the Ancient Greek words elasmo-("plate") and bránchia ("gill"), referring to the broad, flattened gills which are characteristic of these fishes. Elasmobranchs lack swim bladders , and maintain buoyancy with oil that they store in their livers.
The anatomy of fish is often shaped by the physical characteristics of water, the medium in which fish live. Water is much denser than fish, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs more light than air does. The body of a fish is divided into a head, trunk and tail, although the divisions between the three are not always ...
The most general characteristic of molluscs is they are unsegmented and bilaterally symmetrical. [16] The following are present in all modern molluscs: [ 17 ] [ 19 ] The dorsal part of the body wall is a mantle (or pallium) which secretes calcareous spicules , plates or shells.
The gill arches of bony fish typically have no septum, so that the gills alone project from the arch, supported by individual gill rays. Some species retain gill rakers. Though all but the most primitive bony fish lack a spiracle, the pseudobranch associated with it often remains, being located at the base of the operculum.
External gills are the gills of an animal, most typically an amphibian, that are exposed to the environment, rather than set inside the pharynx and covered by gill slits, as they are in most fishes. Instead, the respiratory organs are set on a frill of stalks protruding from the sides of an animal's head. The axolotl has three pairs of external ...
Additionally the infected fish may hold its gill covers open and scratch its gills on rocks. [14] In severe infections, Dactylogyrus species can cause hemorrhaging and metaplasia of the gills which can lead to secondary bacterial infections and death. Heavily infected fish are also anorexic and can be found gasping for air and exhibiting ...