Do fish ever get thirsty?
A full marathon or even running errands we run to get a glass of water to quench the thirst! But, ever wondered would you get thirsty when you are actually in water all the time?? Confused? We are here trying to understand whether fishes or in general aquatic animals who are always surrounded by water actually get thirsty and if yes do they drink the water around?? Let's find out!!
Well the answer to the question is probably on the lines on fish drink water the same way we humans eat air when on land
Jokes apart, fishes do drink water and the way of drinking differs between some species based on the environment they are in. Before we dive into that, let's understand a few things about why we actually need water or why do we get thirsty in general.
Water or basically fluids helps in smooth functioning of the body with digestion, processing out waste among those activities.Through perspiration, urine and many others water is lost from the body. To make up for the lost water, there is an "WATER REQUIRED" signal sent out from the brain which actually makes us feel thirsty. Now as we understand this, too much water and too less water are both can result in sometimes dangerous situation for any being. Why you ask?
Because there is a certain process called as OSMOSIS which happens. Osmosis as a process in general can be defined as flow of molecules(here water) from higher water levels to lower water levels. Let's understand this further. Ever soaked dry raisins in water overnight to find them all swollen up in the morning or dipped hands in water for some time to find them expanded. These are small daily life examples of the osmosis.
Basically what happened in case of raisins was, since within the cells of raisins there were some other molecules along with water present so when soaked in a glass of water, there was a difference in water level outside the raisin which was higher and water level inside the raisin which was lower. Now to balance this, osmosis happened and water molecules from the glass moved into the cells of raisins to maintain the balance.
Coming back to fishes, same thing happens for example if we take freshwater fishes, they have less salt content and more freshwater content so they do take in water but also do let out large amount of water to maintain the process of osmo-regulation (process of managing osmosis within the body). In case of salt water fishes which obviously in more salty concentration of water like sea water there is a process of taking in too much of water and letting little out.
This is also visible in their urine and poop where for freshwater fishes it is too much water and for saltwater it is a little concentrated output
Basically you may say, well that does not mean they are drinking water they are basically making sure they are adjusted to the environment they are in. Well, yes they are but aren't we as humans doing the same as well??
Lot to think for the curious mind!! Keep the curiosity up and running until next time!
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