Do gold fish get thirsty?

[Troubling]

Do they, i was randomly wonderin this?

[Wootzeh]

. Do fish get thirsty or do they even drink? Do fish sleep?

A. The blood of marine teleost fish (the "typical" bony fish such as a tuna or a herring) is not as salty as the sea water that they are swimming in. It is about 1.4 % salt, as opposed to the 3.5% salt found in most sea water. If a marine teleost fish did not have any mechanisms for dealing with this situation, water would leave their bodies via osmosis, and they would dehydrate! (Can you imagine a fish dehydrating in the middle of the ocean!) Marine teleost fish solve this problem by drinking the salty water, retaining the water, and excreting the salts. They have special chloride excreting cells called ionocytes in the gills which actively pump salts out of the fishes body. Since the marine teleost fish do need water, they would probably get thirsty if they neglected to drink. It's hard to conceive of a situation where a these fish could not find some water to drink, however!!

Interestingly, sharks have solved the problem of living in salty water in a very different fashion, and they never have to drink water. Check out the answer to the question on freshwater sharks for more on this.

Fish do not sleep in the same way that mammals do (they don't have eyelids!), but they do enter into a resting phase for part of the day. Some fish are active in the daytime and rest at night (diurnal), while others are active at night and rest in the daytime (nocturnal). In their resting state, the fish are generally very still, and do not move about or feed. Some fish may remain in burrows, dens, or are otherwise hidden while they are resting. Parrotfish secrete mucus from their skin, creating a "cocoon" to wrap themselves in during the night. This cocoon serves to hide their scent from the nocturnal predators that are patrolling the coral reefs looking for a mea




From : http://oceanlink.island.net/ask/fishy.html

All it took was one quick google.

[Wayne]

How could they get thirsty living in water all day? :rolleyes:

[Troubling]

lol thanks for the answer

[stratosphere]

Featured on Brainiac : Science Abuse yesterday :)

[Troubling]

ye lol

[april]

Ever seen a silverfish?

My friend spilled lemonade on his goldfish by accident and it's turned it silver permanently, it's been like that for 6 months lol.

[nick12]

They probaly do they just dont show it becasue there in the water :P

[Virgin Mary]

They do osmosis to stop absorbing most of the sea water I think.

[Rawrz]

Ahhh but can fish drown?

[Virgin Mary]

Ahhh but can fish drown?
Yes, taking a fish out of water has the same effect as putting a human in water.

[lolerskates]

I'd hate to be a fish.

[splatttt]

You must have heard that ON A TV program.. as i did too :)

[Punky]

Ever seen a silverfish?


Those things look freaky and they dont live in water all the time they live around damp mostly.... and they wiggle too much for me O.o


http://www.saferbrand.com/images/silverfish.gif

[louder]

Ahhh but can fish drown?

Grab it's tail and pull it backwards, a fish can drown that way.

[Punky]

If the gills of a fish close for some reason it will drown.... Drowning doesn't have to be in water... You can drown from too much oxygen, or from sand or basically too much of a certin substance that your body can't handle.