Where is the gill opening on a fish?

Where is the gill opening on a fish?

But instead of lungs, they use gills. Gills are branching organs located on the side of fish heads that have many, many small blood vessels called capillaries. As the fish opens its mouth, water runs over the gills, and blood in the capillaries picks up oxygen that’s dissolved in the water.

What is a gill opening?

Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates such as lampreys.

What is the name of the gill flap in fish?

operculum
The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding.

What part of the fish gill directly carries out gas exchange with the water?

The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.

What is the function of the gills in a fish?

Fish gills have an elaborate structure–function relationship with the environment and are usually the main gas-exchange organ where oxygen is taken up into the body and carbon dioxide is removed via diffusion, creating useable ATP energy through aerobic metabolic pathways, meaning the gills serve as an important …

What is the function of gill rakers in fish?

Gill rakers serve to protect the gill from large debris and to trap food, particularly plankton.

How does countercurrent flow work in fish?

Fish gills use a design called ‘countercurrent oxygen exchange’ to maximize the amount of oxygen that their blood can pick up. They achieve this by maximizing the amount of time their blood is exposed to water that has a higher oxygen level, even as the blood takes on more oxygen.

Is the operculum open or closed?

As the mouth closes, water is forced over the gills because the gill covering (called an operculum) has closed. Gills are made up of fine filaments attached to a flexible skeletal arch.

What are gill flaps?

The operculum is a hard, plate-like, bony flap that covers the gills of a bony fish (superclass: Osteichthyes). It protects the gills and also serves a role respiration. Fish can acquire dissolved oxygen through pumping water over their gills by opening and closing their jaws and opercula.

How does the dorsal aorta of a dogfish shark work?

The dorsal aorta passes posteriorly, bringing oxygenated blood from the gills to virtually every part of the shark’s body. The specimen in the photographs was prepared by carefully dissecting to reveal the source of each efferent branchial artery in the gill lamallae of the gill pouches.

How are the septum of a dogfish shark attached?

Each septum is attached medially to a portion of the cartilaginous gill arch. The superficial constrictor muscles act as flap-like valves to open and close the external gill slits. The specimen in the photographs was prepared by removing the skin and the ventral musculature over the pericardial cavity.

How are the gill slits in a dogfish shark supported?

The gill slits are supported by cartilaginous gill arches and guarded by small cartilaginous papillae-like gill rakers which act as strainers to prevent food particles from leaving the pharynx through the gill slits. The partitions between gill pouches are referred as branchial bars.

Is the holobranch part of the posterior gill pouch?

Thus, one holobranch belongs to two different gill pouches; the anterior half (demibranch) to the anterior gill pouch, the posterior gill demibranch to the posterior gill pouch. The gill lamellae are radially folded, highly vascularized tissue attached to the surface of a tough connective tissue, the interbranchial septum.