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Ahh… the mystery of the great beasts. Their complexity, strength and beauty. sharks are masters of their domain, feared by those in and out of the water, and one of nature’s great stabilizers. So are they constantly racing through the oceans? How do their gills and speed work together? And more fundamentally, how do shark gills work?
How do sharks breathe?
Sharks have noses so they can breathe, right? They do have noses, but they use them for smelling, not breathing. They also don’t have lungs, so without breathing through their noses and without lungs, how on earth can they breathe?
Enter the gills. They are well-known fish body parts, located between the head and pectoral fins, but let’s take a closer look at how they work and what other parts of sharks’ bodies help them breathe. And unless you’re a shark freak, you might be surprised…
The gill system: how sharks breathe
In a nutshell, humans inhale oxygen and other gases, filter out the waste such as carbon dioxide, and then exhale. That’s called a gas exchange. Other parts of our bodies play a vital role in this process, but we’re here to talk about sharks.
With sharks it’s the same way with different parts. What they use most as their respiratory system are their gills. So water goes in and out through the gills and that’s how they breathe, right? But there’s more to it than that.
The gill system begins when water is ingested through the mouth and spiracles (if they have any). Small blood vessels/capillaries retain the oxygen in the water, while the carbon dioxide waste is released through the gills.
What is a Spiral?
“Mall sharks, especially bottom-dwelling species, have paired openings called spiracles located between the eye and gill slits. Spiracles are used to absorb water and ventilate the gills, even when the shark is feeding or resting on the bottom.” — dlnr.hawaii.gov
They are usually right behind the eyes to be exact. They lead to the mouth for breathing.
While sharks lie on the bottom of the ocean floor or even bury themselves in the sand, their gills open and close due to the actions of the spiracles. You could compare it to the way we can suck from a straw to get liquid into our body.
Fish like the whale shark have lost this ability since the evolutionary process has reduced the spiracles or made them disappear altogether. Others, such as the sand tiger shark, can switch between mouth breathing and ram ventilation depending on their needs. overachievers.
How many gills does a shark have?
Most sharks have five gills, but some have six or seven. AN group called “cow sharks” are considered the most primitive sharks in existence and have more than five gills. There are four types which include: sixgill sharks and seven gill sharks (someone was original).
They are so unique, they are even included in the Guinness World Records book! Most of them live in deep water habitats at the bottom of the ocean.
H-2-Ohhhh!
The air we breathe is 21% oxygen. The oxygen concentration in water is only 1%. That’s not a typo. Sharks take up 80% of the available 1%, while humans take up only 25% of the 21% available to us.
Oxygen enters the ocean from the atmosphere and from photosynthesis so surface water, which ends at about 300 feet, holds more oxygen than the lower depths.
Active shark species such as the mako and great white sharks tend to hang closer to the surface due to their need for speed. They need more oxygen than other species to catch fast prey, so they go where they can get it. Sounds logical.
Do sharks drown when they stop swimming?
Some sharks, such as the mackerel mackerel, great white, and whale shark will surely die if left immobile, as they have no backup system for their gill-oriented way of breathing.
These sharks use something called obligatory ram ventilation. They swim quickly with their mouths open, forcing the water to circulate through their gills so they can breathe.
Then there are the exceptions…
…are all sharks that can stay in place and still breathe. Look!
In fact, these sharks have a very systemic process to remain motionless. Because they are less active than the mako or the great white, they must be able to catch prey at slow speed/
They tend to ambush predators and that’s exactly what it sounds like. They will lie in wait and either by using their own camouflaged motionless bodies and/or the habitat of the ocean to hide, they will pounce on unsuspecting prey when the opportunity presents itself.
They remain completely silent due to their ability to pump buccal (pronounced “buckle”). A way of breathing where they draw water into the mouth through the windpipe which clears out the carbon dioxide that goes out through the gills. It is named for the buccal, mouth, muscles. To skate and shine also use buccal breathing.
So in summary, how do sharks breathe?
- grilling
- Spiracles
- their mouth
- capillaries
- Ram ventilation
- Blood vessels
- And cuccally pumping
They are all part of a complex, cohesive respiratory system that makes sharks the fascinating, unique fish that they are.
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