Natural Sciences
21 Examples of Gill Breathing Animals
There are animals in nature that live all the time or much of it, under water, and in order to breathe they need a different mechanism than what is commonly known, this breathing process is carried out through gills.
Gills
The gills are the respiratory organ of the vast majority of aquatic animals and their function is to carry out the process of extracting the oxygen dissolved in the water.
Currently, two types of gills are known :
External: visible to the naked eye by the hollow walls exposed in the body.
Internal: they are gills that are partially closed and protected.
What are the animals that breathe through gills?
Among the various species of animals, we can mention three:
- Mollusks: they have their gills protected inside a cavity or open conduit, through which water circulates and extracts oxygen.
- Fish: most fish have gills, however, there are some aquatic animals that use lung respiration, such as whales, turtles, dolphins, among others.
- Vertebrates and insects: these types of animals in their initial stage breathe through gills, later, when they reach their adult stage, they change their type of respiration, adapting to the environment.
Example of animals that breathe through gills
- Tuna
- Clam
- Catfish
- Cod
- Shrimp
- Large tent
- Sea urchin
- Lepidosiren
- Sea hare
- Mojarra tilapia
- Fishes:
- Gupi
- Japanese
- Fighter
- Rainbow
- Hammer
- Octopus
- Tadpole
- Salamander
- Shark
- Velugo.