RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City College of

Arts and Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY

CHAPTER 10
IONIC AND OSMOTIC
BALANCE

CHOSEN ANIMALS:
1. SLOTH
2. STINGRAY
3. SHOEBILL

SUBMITTED BY

RAMOS, VANNY L.

SECTION

CAS-02-601P

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 Table of Content

Cover Page ………………………………………………………………………………. 1

Table of Content …………………………………………………………………………. 2

Introduction (Sloth) ………………………………………………………………………. 3

Ionic and Osmotic Balance (Sloth) …………………………………………………….. 4

Introduction (Stingray) …………………………………………………………………... 6

Ionic and Osmotic Balance (Stingray) …………………………………………………. 7

Introduction (Shoebill) …………………………………………………………………… 9

Ionic and Osmotic Balance (Shoebill) …………………………………………………. 10

References ……………………………………………………………………………….. 11

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 INTRODUCTION

CHOSEN TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL

A. COMMON NAME: SLOTH

B. SCIENTIFIC NAME: FOLIVORA

C. KINGDOM: ANIMALIA

D. PHYLUM: CHORDATA

E. CLASS: MAMMALIA

F. ORDER: PILOSA

G. FAMILY: MEGALOCNIDAE

H. HABITAT OR ECOLOGY: TROPICAL RAINFORESTS (MAINLY CENTRAL

AMERICA)

I. DOMESTIC OR WILD TYPE: WILD TYPE

J. LIFE SPAN: 20 – 30 YEARS

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SLOTH GAS IONIC AND OSMOTIC BALANCE

̶ Fluxes of field water, ca. 38 ml H2 O (kg day)-1 were likewise modest, and may be
explained only by dietary water intake and metabolic water production. Even though
it rained during the trial, this shows that sloths did not drink. In the outdoors, sloths
were roughly water balanced, with an average water consumption of around 38 ml
(kg day) (Nagy & Montgomery, 1980).

̶ Each of the three semicircular canals in the mammalian inner ear is filled with
fluid and cells topped with tiny hairs called cilia. Fluid travels through our
heads, causing hairs to bend, and the cells send out messages to our brain,
assisting us in maintaining our equilibrium (American Museum of Natural
History, 2017).

̶ Drinking is presumably a technique of preserving osmotic balance when faced

with severe ambient temperatures, limited precipitation, or greater eating of
mature (ie drier) leaves, according to methods used to test water retention in
wild sloths. If freshwater access is important, there are additional implications
for sloth husbandry in zoos and rescue centers (where they often face drier
climes, rarely have access to water, and have a low survival rate), as well as
conservation, particularly after habitat fragmentation, where changes in land use
can restrict water access (eg irrigation diverting stable water sources, roads that
are difficult for strictly arboreal animals to cross). Moving forward, the sloths'
potentially delicate water balance may be harmed by the expected trend toward
a hotter, drier environment for Central and South American rainforests,
especially given their restricted energy budget and incapacity to move great
distances. If all sloths require a drink from time to time to keep healthy, it's critical
that they have access to one (Cliffe, 2016).

̶ Goffart (1971) examined the structure and focusing capabilities of the sloth
kidney in great detail. He also mentioned that Choloepus gets most of its water
from the leaves, fruits, and vegetables it eats, but that sloths, at least in captivity,

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 do drink a lot. Nagy and Montgomery (1980) used doubly tagged water to
evaluate carbon dioxide generation and water flow in sloths (Bradypus
variegatus) residing on Barro Colorado Island. Three adult females (two of them
were bearing pups) and two adult males were among the animals. The two
young weighted 613 g and 460 g at first. Water input and outflow rates were
nearly identical, averaging around 39 ml kg-1 day-1 and being less than half of
those recorded in laboratory animals. The amount of water consumed by
juvenile sloths in their milk varied throughout time, averaging 15 ml kg-1 day-1.
Surprisingly, the larger young ingested milk at a lesser rate than the smaller
ones, presumably due to the addition of leaves to their diet. The two
breastfeeding sloths were discovered to devote roughly 5% of their water
consumption and 11% of their caloric intake to milk production. Water production
during oxidation of food in the sloths was estimated to be 4.2 ml per day, leaving
a daily deficit of over 34 ml. It appeared that the remaining water input came
from the ingested leaves rather than from the drinking of rain water. Meritt (1973)
has been found that the average daily water consumption of Choloepus
hoffmanni in captivity was 170 ml per animal, with measured amounts of
excreted urine averaging 808 ml (ranging from 340 to 1600 ml). Meritt (1973)
was also observed that urine (deposited at the same time as the feces) was clear
and yellow to brown and had a specific gravity of 1.023. Meritt (1985) was
reported earlier that the urine of the two-toed sloth has a specific gravity ranging
from 1.020 to 1.031 and a pH ranging from 7.0 to 9.0.

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 INTRODUCTION

CHOSEN AQUATIC ANIMAL

A. COMMON NAME: STINGRAY

B. SCIENTIFIC NAME: MYLIOBATOIDEI

C. KINGDOM: ANIMALIA

D. PHYLUM: CHORDATA

E. CLASS: CHONDRICHTHYES

F. ORDER: MYLIOBATIFORMES

G. FAMILY: HEXATRYGONIDAE

H. HABITAT OR ECOLOGY: COASTAL TROPICAL AND SUB TROPICAL MARINE

WATERS (TEMPERATE SEAS)

I. DOMESTIC OR WILD TYPE: WILD TYPE

J. LIFE SPAN: 15 – 25 YEARS

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STINGRAY IONIC AND OSMOTIC BALANCE

̶ Stingrays, like other fish, breathe underwater, but they don't take in water
through their mouths and pump it out through their gills. Stingrays, on the other
hand, have spiracles, which are gas exchange apertures. The stingrays use
these holes positioned behind their eyes to take in water (Hazon et al., 1997).

̶ As part of their osmo- and volume-regulatory methods, stingrays keep their

bodily fluids hyperosmotic to the surrounding environment. Plasma osmolality in
the ocean, for example, is 2–10% greater than that of surrounding saltwater,
owing to their capacity to sustain high Na+, Cl, and urea concentrations in the
extracellular fluid (Holmes & Donaldson, 1969).

̶ The majority of marine elasmobranch species are restricted to marine

environments and experience only minor changes in salinity. However, certain
species may be found in both estuary and marine settings, making them
somewhat euryhaline (Compagno, 1995). Furthermore, a limited number of
species are euryhaline, meaning they can live for long periods of time in marine,
estuarine, riverine, and even freshwater settings. Despite the fact that these
euryhaline elasmobranchs tend to travel between habitats on a seasonal basis,
at least one species, Dasyatis sabina, can reproduce and finish its life cycle in
freshwater (Johnson & Snelson, 1996).

̶ The osmotic difference between saltwater and the extracellular fluid causes a
tiny osmotically driven influx of solute-free water since elasmobranchs' gills are
freely permeable to water (Evans, 1993). By excreting excess water, the kidneys
maintain volume homeostasis. These fish excrete a lot of water fractionally, and
their urine is generally hyposmotic to both plasma and saltwater (Holmes &
Donaldson, 1969). For elasmobranchs that swim between settings with varying
salinities or live in low-salinity habitats, volume homeostasis is a difficulty due to
the high extracellular fluid osmolality and the ability of water to readily flow
through the gills. Two tactics are used in response to this challenge: "osmo-

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 conformity," in which plasma osmolality is changed in the same direction as the
change in external salinity by adjusting plasma urea and/or Na+ and Cl
concentrations. Changes in internal osmolality, on the other hand, are not
proportionate to changes in external salinity. euryhaline elasmobranchs are
"partial osmo-conformers" on the margins, whereas euryhaline elasmobranchs
are the least osmo-conformers (Cooper & Morris, 1998).

̶ When exposed to low external salinity, the osmotic driving force for water intake
increases as a result of the absence of proportionality between plasma and
external osmolality. Plasma osmo-lalities of euryhaline elasmobranchs are 550–
700 mosmol/kgH2O in freshwater settings of 40 mosmol/kgH2O (only 30–40%
lower than in 100% saltwater). As a result, the osmotic gradient between plasma
and the surrounding environment increases dramatically, from near isosmotic in
100 percent saltwater to 500–600 mosmol/kgH2O in freshwater (Pillans et al.,
2004).

̶ When moderately euryhaline elasmobranchs are exposed to a dilute

environment, enhanced glomerular filtration rate, urinary flow rate, free water
clearance (C), and urea and electrolyte excretion counteract branchial water
absorption Wong & Chan, 1977). Because euryhaline elasmobranchs can
penetrate into very low-salinity environments, they have larger external: internal
osmotic gradients than marginally euryhaline elasmobranchs, but smaller
increases in body weight and hematocrit on dilution, and/or a faster return of
hematocrit to predilution values (Cooper & Morris, 1998). These findings suggest
that euryhaline elasmobranchs' volume-regulating systems can successfully
offset water intake. Although no euryhaline elasmobranch's renal excretory
reaction to low salinity has been extensively studied, Atlantic stingrays produce
very dilute urine in fresh water, with urine osmolality one-tenth that of plasma
and C90 percent of urine flow (Janech & Piermarini, 2002).

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 INTRODUCTION

CHOSEN AVIAN ANIMAL

A. COMMON NAME: SHOEBILL

B. SCIENTIFIC NAME: BALAENICEPS REX

C. KINGDOM: ANIMALIA

D. PHYLUM: CHORDATA

E. CLASS: AVES

F. ORDER: PELECANIFORMES

G. FAMILY: BALAENICIPITIDAE

D. HABITAT OR ECOLOGY: FRESHWATER SWAMPS AND EXTENSIVE, DENSE

MARSHES (TROPICAL AFRICA)

I. DOMESTIC OR WILD TYPE: WILD TYPE

J. LIFE SPAN: 35 – 50 YEARS

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SHOEBILL IONIC AND OSMOTIC BALANCE

̶ In terms of osmoregulation, birds are uncommon among vertebrates since they

lack a distinct organ where urine may be kept until expelled or where post-renal
alteration of urine can be achieved, i.e., birds lack a urinary bladder. To maintain
total body water balance, birds use three organs or organ systems: kidneys,
lower gastrointestinal tract, and nose or orbital salt glands. By generating urines
that are much more concentrated than plasma, the kidneys do not preserve
considerable amounts of water by themselves. The renal output enters the lower
gastrointestinal tract without a urinary bladder, where it can be greatly changed.
Birds that eat salty food or drink salty fluids have functioning salt glands that can
eliminate excess ions, mainly sodium chloride, and make free water in the
process (Braun, 2015).

̶ Evaporative cooling in Shoebills (Pelicaniformes) need a lot of water, which

comes from food and presumably also by drinking saltwater. Because of the
excessive salt intake, additional modifications are required to eliminate the
surplus. The lateral nasal glands, which operate when the quantity of salt
ingested into the body exceeds the kidneys' capacity, are highly developed salt
excretory glands in marine birds. A concentrated solution of sodium chloride is
secreted by the glands and travels through ducts into the nasal cavity. It then
comes out from the nostrils of most marine birds, including tropic birds, and may
dribble or be shook off the bill tip. The solution trickles from the internal nares in
the roof of the mouth and out the end of the bill in boobies and cormorants, which
have closed nostrils. The salt gland is substantially bigger in individuals from
marine areas in several cormorant species that exist in both marine and
freshwater habitats, possibly indicating increased salt consumption (Ashmole,
2020).

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