Osmoregulation –

Part One
Introduction

Aquatic & Terrestrial Species

Similarities and Differences

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 Introduction
 Review section on “water” (Chapter 3) as
the physicochemical nature of life is a
reflection of the properties of water
 Ability to survive in a variety of osmotic
environments is achieved by an animal’s
homeostatic mechanisms – focus on the
osmoregulatory mechanisms – NB in
dispersal of species/process of evolution
 ionic and osmotic influences across the
plasma membrane --- external
environment of the animal itself – aquatic
(fresh and salt water) + terrestrial
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 Introduction con’t
 While osmostic balance various
over the day, it is maintained at a
steady state = input & output of
water and slats over time ~ equal
 More to the story than intake &
output of water = involves
maintenance of solute
concentrations in extracellular
compartments
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 Osmoregulators &
Osmoconformers
 Osmoregulators = maintian internal
osmolarity different from the external
environment e.g. most vertebrates
(except hagfishes)
 Osmoconformers – do not control
osmotic condition of its body fluids but
conforms to the osmolarity of the
external environment e.g. marine
invertebrates
 Freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates
= body fluids are more dilute than
seawater but more concentrated than
freshwater
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 Osmoregulators &
Osmoconformers con’t
 Osmolar homeostasis achieved by
increasing concentration of intracelluar
organic osmolytes (substances in high
concentrations act to increase
intracellular osmolarity) e.g. urea &
trimethylamine oxide (TMAO)
 2 classes of osmotic exchanges:
1. Obligatory osmotic exchanges
2. Regulated osmotic exchanges

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 Obligatory Osmotic
Exchanges
 Occur mainly in response to physical
factors over which the animal has little or
no control such as :
 A. transepithelial diffusion
 B. ingestion, defecation and metabolic
water production
 Regulated exchanges serve to
compensate for obligatory exchanges –
integument (skin), respiratory surfaces
and other epithelial in contact with
external environment are barriers to
obligatory exchanges
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 Obligatory Osmotic
Exchanges con’t
 A. Transepithelial diffusion
depends on:
1. surface area of the animal
2. the size of the gradient
3. permeability of the animal’s
surface/skin

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 1. Surface-to-volume
ratio
 Volume varies with the cube of linear
dimensions
 Surface area varies with the square of
linear dimensions
 Thus, surface-to-volume ratio > for small
animals than for large = surface area of
integument (through which water/solute
exchanges)>relative to the water content
of a small animal than a large = small
animal will dehydrate faster than a larger
one (of relatively the same shape)

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 3. Permeability of the
Integument
 Movement of water across skin either
transcelluar (through) or paracellular
(between) – role of tight junctions
 Phospholipid bilayers not very
permeable to water = transcellular
movement depends on water channels
e.g.aquaporins – membrane permeability
to water related to concentration of
aquaporins in the phospholipid bilayer &
it varies with animal groups compare
amphibian skin to reptile skin to gills
 Specialialities – e.g. pelvic patches
(amphibians), waxy cuticles (insects)
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 Obligatory Osmotic
Exchanges con’t
 B. Ingestion, Defecation and Metabolic
Water Production
 Food and water taken in; metabolic by-
products must be eliminated
 Osmotic problems – metabolic
production of nitrogenous
wastes(ammonia and urea) and the
ingestion of salts (because water is req’d
for their elimination)
 (specialized mechanisms are needed to
balance/counteract these types of obligatory
exchanges to maintain homeostasis)

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 Obligatory Osmotic
Exchanges con’t - water
loss via respiration
 Water -high heat of evaporation = water
molecules with highest energy enter
gaseous phase taking thermal energy
with them = water left behind is cooler =
respiratory surfaces major avenue for
water loss in air-breathing animals
 Ventilation by unsaturated air = causes
evaporation leading to water loss – warm
air holds more water = especially NB in
animals whose body temperature is
higher than the ambient temperature –
temporal countercurrent systems to
offset this obligatory loss/exchange
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 Osmoregulation
(controlled osmotic exchanges)
 A. Water-breathing Animals

1. Freshwater Animals
2. Marine Animals

 B. Terrestrial Animals

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 A. Water-breathing
Animals
 Osmolarities of the potenial
environments has huge range
lakes, oceans, bogs, marshes, etc.
 ~ body fluids tend away from
environmental osmotic extremes
 Euryhalines vs. stenohalines

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 1. Freshwater Animals
 Body fluids generally are hyperosmotic
to aqueous environment creating 2
problems:
1. Vulnerable to “swelling” due to osmosis
of water down the osmotic gradient
2. Vulnerable to continual loss of body
salts to the surrounding water
 Must prevent net gain of water and net
loss of salts

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 1. Freshwater Animals
osmoregulation con’t
 Counteract these losses/gains:
1. Skin with a low permeability to salts
and water (don’t drink water = reduces
the need to expel excess = get water
from diffusion across the body
surfaces)
2. Production of dilute urine
3. Ability to take up salts from the dilute
enviornment

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 2. Marine Animals –
species variation
 Marine invertebrates, ascidians &
hagfishes = intracellular & extracelluar
fluids close to seawater i.e. don’t need to
regulate osmolarity of their body fluids –
hagfish does regulate some specific ions
e.g. blood Ca, Mg & SO4 maintained <
seawater and Na & Cl higher
 Elasmobranchs (sharks, rays & skates) +
coelacanth Latimeria like hagfish =
plasma iososmotic to seawater but differ
from hagfishes maintain far lower
concentrations of electrolytes = making
up the difference with organic osmolytes
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 2. Marine Animals –
Teleosts – modern bony
fishes
 Hypotonic to seawater = tendency to
lose water to environment especially
across the gill epithelium
 Replace water = drinking seawater thus,
uptake of salt also from seawater – 70%-
80% ingested water is absorbed across
intestinal epithelium = enters blood
stream with NaCl & KCl – ingested
seawater diluted 50% by diffusion of
salts across esophagus and active
uptake of salts in small intestine – left
behind = expelled through defecation =
divalent cations (Ca, Mg and SO4)
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 2. Marine Teleosts con’t
 excess salt absorbed along with
water eliminated from blood by
active transport of Na, Cl and
some K across the gill epithelium
into seawater and by secretion of
divalent salts by kidney
 Urine is isotonic to blood but Ca,
Mg and SO4 is high I.e. not
secreted by the gills
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 2. Marine Teleosts con’t
 Gill differences between freshwater
and marine water teleosts
 Marine teleosts = chloride cells in
gill epithelium mediate transport of
NaCl from blood to seawater
 Migrating species = maintain +
constant ionic composition in both
aquatic environments

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 B. Air-
breathing/Terrestrial
Animals
 Live in a “sea” of air – water-permeable
epithelium = subject to dehydration
(through respiratory system) – must
minimize H2O loss
 Marine reptiles and birds drink seawater
but since they can’t concentrate their
urine – have specialized glands for
secretion of salts in a strong
hyperosmotic fluid (salt glands – above
orbit in birds and near nose/eyes of
reptiles)

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 Terrestrial Animals con’t
 Humans (& other mammals) not
equipped to drink seawater – kidney
can’t remove the salt without large
quantity of water = rapid dehydration
 Desert animals – don’t normally drink
water – osmoregulation & temperature
regulation closely related – avoid
heat/sun = e.g. kangaroo rat = nocturnal
= avoid respiratory water loss, avoid
heat-generating exercise + excretes
highly concentrate urine and rectal
absorption of water = dry fecal pellet =
source of water is metabolic water
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 Desert Animals con’t
 E.g. camel – can’t hide in a burrow
– don’t sweat, allow body heat to
rise (cool at night) and body size &
fur (insulate) slow increase in day
– dry feces + concentrated urine +
stores urea in tissues until water
available
 Marine mammals – live in
environment without fresh water
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 Marine Mammals con’t
 Mechanisms similar to desert
animals = water conservation –
kidneys produce hypertonic urine –
seals (labyrinth-like expansion
nasal passages = dec. respiratory
water loss); whales/dolphins =
blowhole + large lung tidal volumes
= large volume of gases removed
& water condensation at the
blowhole used to wet inspired air

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 Terrestrial Arthropods
 Some (ticks and mites) can extract
water from the air even when
humidity is low = also can occur
when the vapor pressure of the
hemolymph exceeds that of air –
appears site of water take up is
rectum

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