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Countercurrent exchange is a mechanism occurring in nature and mimicked in industry and engineering, in which there is a crossover of some property, usually heat or some chemical, between two flowing bodies flowing in opposite directions to each other. The flowing bodies can be liquids, gases, or even solid powders, or any combination of those.
Fish transfer oxygen from the sea water to their blood using a highly efficient mechanism called countercurrent exchange. Countercurrent exchange means the flow of water over the gills is in the opposite direction to the flow of blood through the capillaries in the lamellae.
Fish physiology. When threatened, the toxic pufferfish fills its extremely elastic stomach with water. [1] Fish physiology is the scientific study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. [2] It can be contrasted with fish anatomy, which is the study of the form or morphology of fishes.
In some fish, capillary blood flows in the opposite direction to the water, causing countercurrent exchange. The muscles on the sides of the pharynx push the oxygen-depleted water out the gill openings. In bony fish, the pumping of oxygen-poor water is aided by a bone that surrounds the gills called the operculum. [6]
Usually water is moved across the gills in one direction by the current, by the motion of the animal through the water, by the beating of cilia or other appendages, or by means of a pumping mechanism. In fish and some molluscs, the efficiency of the gills is greatly enhanced by a countercurrent exchange mechanism in which the water passes over ...
The salt gland is an organ for excreting excess salts. It is found in the cartilaginous fishes subclass elasmobranchii (sharks, rays, and skates), seabirds, and some reptiles. Salt glands can be found in the rectum of sharks. Birds and reptiles have salt glands located in or on the skull, usually in the eyes, nose, or mouth.
Rete mirabile. A rete mirabile (Latin for "wonderful net"; pl.: retia mirabilia) is a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other, found in some vertebrates, mainly warm-blooded ones. The rete mirabile utilizes countercurrent blood flow within the net (blood flowing in opposite directions) to act as a countercurrent exchanger.
The southern bluefin tuna is a predatory organism with a high metabolic need. These are pelagic animals, but migrate vertically through the water column, up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in depth. They also migrate between tropical and cool temperate waters in the search for food. [4] The seasonal migrations are between waters off the coast of ...