2006-12-04 07:18:51 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
No. Using salmon as an example is not valid, because salmon have ADAPTED to spending parts of their lifestages in salt, and part in freshwater.
Both salt and freshwater fish need to regulate their osmotic pressure. You know when you spend a long time in the bathtub, and your fingers get wrinkly? Well, the same thing happens with fish. Marine fish are adapted to drink a lot and expell a very salty urine, therefore lowering the amount of salt in their bodies. Freshwater fish do not expel salty urine, naturally. Long story short, if you put a freshwater fish in salt water, the water would literally be sucked out of their bodies into the surrounding salt water, because FW fish are not adapted to having to regulate high concentrations of salt. SW fish on the other hand, would bloat. And eventually die.
2006-12-04 07:39:50 · answer #1 · answered by Zoe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't try putting a fresh water fish into salt water but maybe a saltwater fish can survive in fresh water.
2006-12-04 15:40:48 · answer #2 · answered by Brian 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fresh water mollies can switch to a salt tank. People use them to start up the tank. I have never tried this though, just read about it. You can dip them and alter the fresh water to salt water over a period of several hours and they can survive. Do a google search of mollies in salt water. Fresh water and salt water fish, they are dipped in the opposite water to get rid of diseases. Fresh and salt water ick, for example, you soak the fish in the opposite water for 5 minutes, and then return them to a separate tank while you get your normal tank taken care of.
In the wild... salmon, sea lions, and who knows what else that we don't see in the delta's of some rivers, but that water would be considered brackish anyways. I live in Oregon, and there are sea lions over 100 miles up the Columbia river in the gorge. One has became famous for migrating around the fish weirs, by going through the ship docking channels. I guess it is about how determined they are.
2006-12-04 15:47:48 · answer #3 · answered by dontblamemeivoted 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most cannot but some can. The best two examples are salmon and eels which migrate from the sea up into rivers to breed. In order to survive they undergo considerable physiological changes.
2006-12-04 15:21:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
about 2% of all the fish we've found in the world can but the rest cannot because of osmosis
2014-06-17 14:58:28 · answer #5 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
generally speaking the answer is no. There are a few exceptions in nature, but if you are talking about fish in a tank then they need to be in separate tanks.
2006-12-04 15:20:34 · answer #6 · answered by rivkadacat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ever heard of salmon? born in fresh water, grow up in salt water, and die in fresh water after laying eggs.
2006-12-04 15:22:08 · answer #7 · answered by madema 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bull sharks and eels and Salmon are the only ones i know of!
2006-12-04 15:20:31 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
in most cases no
2006-12-04 15:22:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
CAN AN AFRICAN LIVE IN ANTARCTICA
2006-12-05 14:37:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋