« Home | Who invented Velcro? » | Who invented Sudoku? » | Are there still pirates in the world? » | What's the estimated land value of Central Park in... » | When and why did women start shaving their legs? » | When were credit cards invented and first used? » | Who invented the remote control? » | Has there ever been a period of time without war? » | What did William Shatner do before "Star Trek"? » | Does blowing on hot soup really cool it down? » 

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Bookmark Now! | Email to a friend  

Do fish drink water?

Some fish drink the water they swim in, while others absorb it through osmosis. It just depends on whether the fish lives in freshwater or saltwater.

The MadSci Network explains that fish need to keep a certain concentration of salt in their bodies. Marine fish need to worry about preventing water loss, because they already get plenty of salt. They drink sea water, and their gills process the water but remove the salt. In fact, some saltwater fish lack properly functioning kidneys, in order to help avoid losing too much water.

Freshwater fish have the opposite problem: They need more salt. They absorb water through their skin and have effective ways of excreting excess liquid to maintain the salt they need.

Some fish have developed the ability to exist comfortably in both freshwater and saltwater -- the salmon and bull shark are notable examples. Bull sharks have been found far up the Mississippi and Amazon rivers, much to the surprise of people who believe sharks are found only in the salty, salty sea.

Source: Ask.yahoo.com

Add to: Oneview Add to: Folkd Add to: Yigg Add to: Linkarena Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icio.us Add to: Reddit Add to: Simpy Add to: StumbleUpon Add to: Slashdot Add to: Netscape Add to: Furl Add to: Yahoo Add to: Spurl Add to: Google Add to: Blinklist Add to: Blogmarks Add to: Technorati Add to: Newsvine Add to: Blinkbits Add to: Ma.Gnolia



Share on Facebook Read the whole Blog

Receive post updates by Email

Bookmarks