Fish Urinate, Defecate, and Fart: Insights into Their Bodily Functions

Quick Summary

• Fish urinate to excrete metabolic wastes and regulate bodily fluids, a process similar to humans.
• Fish urine primarily consists of nitrogen and urea, with composition varying among the 36,000 described fish species.
• Waste products are expelled through gills as ammonia or via a cloaca/vent in liquid form.
• Saltwater fish intake water to osmoregulate while freshwater fish largely manage this balance through their gills without drinking water directly.
• Marine science and ichthyology provide insights not only into aquatic life but also human evolutionary traits like kidneys and lungs derived from fish anatomy.

Read More

Indian Opinion analysis

This article on how fish excrete wastes might seem niche but underscores broader scientific implications with practical relevance-particularly for fields like marine ecology, biology education, and evolutionary science. For India’s aquatic ecosystem research priorities, such studies could deepen our understanding of osmoregulation’s role in freshwater versus saltwater biodiversity, vital for managing endangered riverine populations or optimizing fisheries management practices for livelihoods linked to marine industries.Studying similarities between humans and aquatic organisms also highlights the importance of preserving oceans as fundamental sources of biological evolution clues-a message increasingly relevant in India’s blue economy ambitions.

Read More