Do fish have to drink water to hydrate like we do?

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I assume water to them is analogous to air for us and is the medium they are living and breathing in. But all organisms (to my knowledge) require water to survive and so the idea of them drinking a small amount of the water they swim in every now and then seems ridiculous to me.

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Freshwater fish swallow and expel water through their gills through a process called osmosis. They also swallow water when they swallow food, and this water too gets expelled through the gills.

Saltwater fish deliberately swallow water to maintain the salt concentration in their body. If the salt concentration in body goes high, they’ll expel the excess salt and swallow more water if the salt concentration goes down.

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