do fish ever get thirsty?

Answer 1

i asked my goldfish but he was too busy drinking to tell me

Answer 2

I had a professor give a 3 hour lecture on this topic. I still dont really understand the answer but I will try. All fish absorb water from their enviornment as their source of hydration. In fresh water fish, water will easily be absorbed due to osmotic potential. So they will never get thirsty (or dehydrated). In marine fish however, water tends to move out of the fishes cells and into the surrounding enviornment, due to osmotic force. This means the fish is constantly loosing water through its skin. So the fish must always drink, but what is a fish to drink since animals cannot really drink salt water. So fish have a specially developed organ called a swim bladder that allows for them to drink salt water. The fish drinks the salt water and the swim bladder quickly removes the salt from the fishes body. So I guess the only way a fish will get thirsty is if its swim bladder doesnt work, or maybe if its diabetic (do fish get diabetes? I know cats do). The better question is do polar bears ever sweat?

Answer 3

i now alot about fish 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

Answer 4

marine fish lose water to the salty sea and have to constantly drink while fresh water fish don't have the problem. it is a constant struggle to keep water levels right so technically yes they do get thirsty

Answer 5

Probably not as they are surrounded by water. When I watch my Koi eat they just suck up the food and get a mouthfull of water at the same time so I presume some of the water is digested with the food.

Answer 6

fish never get thirsty as it is in the water itself, ofcourse, hungry when it is not fed properly.

Answer 7

yes--whenever they eat food, they get some water in it / with it, so they can essentially do both things at once--like pouring milk into cereal! basically, they get thirsty as often as they get hungry.

Answer 8

Does a Bear wipe his Butt with a Fluffly white Rabbit?

Answer 9

I've never seen mu fishes to drink, but I think it's because they swallow water while they are breathing.

Answer 10

yes they do,their drinks of choice being a nice cool beer,or a pina colada with an umbrella lol
on a serious note,no they don't they are permanently hydrated

Answer 11

yes, hence the saying 'drinks like a fish' lol