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Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.
In very small animals, plants and bacteria, simple diffusion of gaseous metabolites is sufficient for respiratory function and no special adaptations are found to aid respiration. Passive diffusion or active transport are also sufficient mechanisms for many larger aquatic animals such as many worms, jellyfish, sponges, bryozoans and similar ...
The Root effect is a physiological phenomenon that occurs in fish hemoglobin, named after its discoverer R. W. Root. It is the phenomenon where an increased proton or carbon dioxide concentration (lower pH ) lowers hemoglobin's affinity and carrying capacity for oxygen .
"Bulk flow" is the movement/flow of an entire body due to a pressure gradient (for example, water coming out of a tap). "Diffusion" is the gradual movement/dispersion of concentration within a body with no net movement of matter. An example of a process where both bulk motion and diffusion occur is human breathing. [2]
Aquatic animals such as fish, however, have a more specialized hearing apparatus that is effective underwater. [58] Fish can sense sound through their lateral lines and their otoliths (ears). Some fishes, such as some species of carp and herring, hear through their swim bladders, which function rather like a hearing aid. [59]
A fish's hypoxia tolerance can be represented in different ways. A commonly used representation is the critical O 2 tension (P crit), which is the lowest water O 2 tension (P O 2) at which a fish can maintain a stable O 2 consumption rate (M O 2). [2] A fish with a lower P crit is therefore thought to be more hypoxia-tolerant than a fish with a ...
However, because water is a polar molecule this process of simple diffusion is relatively slow, and in tissues with high water permeability the majority of water passes through aquaporin. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Peter Agre for the discovery of aquaporins [ 6 ] and Roderick MacKinnon for his work on ...
Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms. [3]