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Why do salt water fish need salt?
In seawater, fish must drink salt water to replace lost fluids and then eliminate the excess salts. Their kidneys produce small volumes of fluid containing high concentrations of salt. Freshwater fish produce large volumes of dilute urine, which is low in salt.
How do saltwater fish survive living in saltwater?
To survive, saltwater fishes continually drink lots of water to compensate for water loss caused by osmosis. They filter out excess salt from their bloodstream through their gills and kidneys by urinating.
Why will salt water fish die in freshwater?
A fish that lives in salt water will have somewhat salty water inside itself. Put it in the freshwater, and the freshwater will, through osmosis, enter the fish, causing its cells to swell, and the fish will die.
Can a saltwater fish live in freshwater?
Some fish species can live in both freshwater and saltwater. These species are called euryhaline fish. However, most fish species can only survive in one or the other based on their salinity tolerance, or how much salt their bodies can handle.
Would a saltwater fish explode in freshwater?
Fish do absorb water through their skin and gills in a process called osmosis. They can’t just allow the water to diffuse freely through their gills; the saltwater fish would shrivel up and the freshwater fish would explode!
How saltwater fish can survive without experiencing dehydration?
Because they live in such salty conditions, fish constantly lose water and they must drink water through their mouths and filter out the salt in their gills. Freshwater fish do not face this problem and do not have to actively drink water.
Why can salmon live in saltwater and freshwater?
Salmon can survive in both freshwater and saltwater. There are behavioral adaptations as well as physical adaptations that make this possible. This means that salmon in freshwater have to have an adaptation to prevent over hydration, and in saltwater they need an adaptation to prevent dehydration.