2007-01-28 05:39:26 · 8 answers · asked by Charlotte 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
I don't think they recognize thirst as we do or need water like other species. Maybe the gills take it some or through the body. I'll have to read your answers and see what comes up. I must say , good question makes one use the brain.
2007-01-28 05:49:04 · answer #1 · answered by lucyshines49 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Interesting question. Freshwater fish absorb their water directly through their skin in a process called Osmosis. By contrast, marine fish drink copious quantities of water. The excess salt is removed by the kidneys & is excreted.
2007-01-28 15:43:33 · answer #2 · answered by ispooky2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's all about salt. If a fish's body has more salt than the water around it, water will be absorbed into their body (this is a process called osmosis). If a fish's body has less salt than the water around them, water will be sucked out of their body.
Freshwater fish don't really drink. Their bodies have more salt than the water around them, so their skin and gills automatically absorb water into their bodies. They get all the water they need that way, and they urinate extra water along with waste materials.
Saltwater fish *do* drink. Their bodies have less salt than the water around them, so water is always getting sucked out of their body. To compensate, they drink. The salt that they swallow with the water is flushed out through their gills, and they don't urinate a whole lot of water because they don't have much excess water.
If you put a freshwater fish into saltwater, I imagine that water would get sucked out of their body. They might have the ability to drink water (I guess they probably do), but they wouldn't have a mechanism to flush out excess salt. So they would die from having too much salt in their body. That would *sort of* be like dying of thirst.
If you put a saltwater fish into fresh water, I imagine that water would get sucked into their body. But they'd keep drinking water, purging salt out of their gills, and probably wouldn't urinate much... so they'd die from having too much water and not enough salt in their body. That would *sort of* be like dying from water intoxication.
2007-01-28 14:39:58 · answer #3 · answered by EC 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nope they don't ever get thirsty.
2007-01-28 14:03:36 · answer #4 · answered by Penguins 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish
2007-01-28 13:55:07 · answer #5 · answered by Don Santiago 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no. I think there body absorbs water and they do not actually "drink"
2007-01-28 13:47:20 · answer #6 · answered by None N 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
offer it a drink and see!! lol
2007-02-01 05:33:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
haha good question
2007-01-28 13:47:20 · answer #8 · answered by Argiiii. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋