SYNOPSIS

SUBMITTED BY-
ROLL-061815 NO- 02043836
REGN NO- 04-150075779
T.D.C 6TH SEMESTER
ZOOLOGY HONOURS

SUBMITTED TO-
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY
CACHAR COLLEGE, SILCHAR
0SMOREGULATION IN FRESH WATER FISHES
WHAT IS OSMOREGULATION?

Osmoregulation is the physiological process by which organism

maintain homeostatic of body’s salt concentration and water
volume. Thus osmoregulation prevents body fluids of an
organism in becoming too diluted or too concentrated.

The organs that carry out osmoregulation include contractile

vacuoles of protists, nephridia, antennal glands, and malpighian
tubules of invertebrates, and salt glands and kidneys of
vertebrates.

In fishes the kidneys play an important role in osmoregulation,

but major portion of the Osmoregulatory functions are carried
out by other organs such as the gills, the integument and even
the intestine. Osmoregulation may be defined as “the ability to
maintain a suitable internal environment in the face of osmotic
stress”.

Osmoregulators and Osmoconfirmers:

Osmoregulators are those animals who can maintain the internal
osmolarity different from the medium in which they live.

Osmoconfirmers are those animals who are unable to control osmotic

state of their body fluids but confirms to the osmolarity of the ambient
medium. Majority of fishes either live in freshwater or in salt water

Due to various physiological processes, metabolic wastes are removed

from the body in vertebrates by gut, skin and kidneys. But in fishes and
aquatic animals their gills and oral membranes are permeable both to
water and salts in marine environment, salt is more in water against the
salt inside the body fluid, hence water moves out due to the process of
‘osmosis’.

The ‘osmosis’ may be defined as “if two solutions of different

concentrations are separated by a semipermeable membrane,
the solvent from the less concentrated part will move through
the membrane into more concentrated solution.” Hence to com-
pensate the loss of water marine fishes drink water.

The salt will enter the body due to concentration gradient and so salt will
be more inside the body. On the other hand, in freshwater fishes, the salt
will go out to the environment as the salt concentration will be more
inside the body fluid. The water will move inside the body due to osmosis
through partially permeable membrane.

Osmoregulation in fresh water

Fresh water organism like fish (example – Labeo rohita, L. calbasu,
Cirrhinus mrigala) live their lives completely surrounded by water on
all sides. It surrounds them externally in their habitat and also
comprises much of the body fluid. Fish must therefore use some sort
of balance between these two separate and very different water
environments. This balance is met through the processes of
osmoregulation.
Problems:
In fresh water, the body fluid of fish has a higher concentration of salt
compare to salt compare to all external environment .Thus , the body
fluid is hypertonic to their external water environment and thus face the
following problems.
1. As fresh water passes over the gill lamella, water moves from
the fresh water into the blood by osmosis. Thus, these fish
must produce a very large volume of urine to balance this large
intake of water.
2. During the extretion process , they lose plenty of essential
ions. Thus , these fish must have an efficient mechanism to
overcome this ion loss.
Solution/ osmoregulation:
In freshwater fish kidneys and gills perform the function of
osmoregulation in the following ways.
1. Excretion of large amount volume of diluted urine: Fresh water
fish has a highly developed kidney with a large number of
glomeruli. The continual uptake of water in freshwater species is
balanced by constantly producing
large amounts of dilute urine.
2.Active uptake of ions through gills : The gills are also permeable to
repiratory gases, ammonia waste products and ions. Therefore , while
water moves towards the higher osmotic pressure of the blood sodium
and chloride ions also diffuse out of the fish, moving down their
concentration gradients in the external environment. To balance this
loss, they reabsorb salt from their urine before its excretion and actively
uptake of water using special cells in the gills .

Significance of osmoregulation.
 Osmoregulation is the active regulation of levels of
solubles in tissues and cells in a way that maintains
homeostatis .
 This has two main function: maintaining pressure in
and out of the cells and maintaining water levels .
 Osmoregulation prevents body fluids of an organism
from becoming in becoming too diluted or too
concentrated .