How does eel breathe

Hanson, D. Doctoral Dissert. Hunter, J. Posthumous papers by Richard Owen. Johansen , K. Franklin , and R. Van Citters : Aortic blood flow in free swimming elasmobranchs. Lenfant : Respiration in he African lungfish.

Control of breathing. Grigg : Respiratory control in the lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri , Krefft. Hanson : Cardiovascular dynamics in the lungfishes.

Lenfant , C. Johansen : Gas transport by hemocyanin containing blood of the cephalopod, Octopus dofleini. Respiration Physiol. Respiratory properties of blood and normal patterns of breathing and gas exchange. Grigg : Respiratory properties of blood and pattern of gas exchange in the lungfish, Neoceratodus foersteri Krefft.

Murdaugh , H. Robin , J. Millen , and W. Drewry : Cardiac output determinations by the dye dilution method in Squalus acanthias. Rauther , M. Richter , H. Satchell , G. Shelford , V. Allee : The reactions of fishes to gradients of dissolved atmospheric gases. Willmer , E. The electric eel is a knifefish and is more closely related to catfish and carp than to other eel families. This electric fish can generate up to volts of electricity!

The electric eel has a slender, snake-like body and flattened head. Its thick, scaleless skin is generally dark gray to brown, and its underside is a yellow-orange color. Similar to other eel shaped fish, the electric eel lacks pelvic fins.

It has a small, or reduced, caudal fin and also lacks dorsal fins. Instead, an elongated anal fin helps it maneuver through the water, where it can swim forward, backward or hover, as it searches for prey. Its remaining vital organs are tightly packed within the anterior, or front, part of its body. The electric organs create strong and weak electric charges, which are utilized for defense, hunting, communication and navigation.

Stronger electric charges can be energetically exhausting for this fish. This species is widely distributed across northern South America. Electric eels inhabit the quiet, slow-moving waters of ox-bow lakes, streams, pools and flooded forests of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, preferring side channels but also living further inland.

Both of the rivers these fish inhabit are subject to a natural fluctuation of water driven by precipitation patterns, which results in two distinct seasons: wet and dry. The two seasons bring about drastic changes in available habitat for electric eels.

During the rainy season, the rivers swell, re-connecting lakes and ponds as the forests flood. Juvenile electric eels disperse and expand into new territories. By Sarah Keartes October 09 Support Monthly. Predator vs Prey. Hungry eel attacks octopus, has a go at diver By Earth Touch News. Eerie Evolution. What is this crazy 'eel'? And where the heck are its eyes?

By Sarah Keartes. Clues to its idenity would lurk in the number of its vertebrae, and in details in its skull shape and in the structure of the skeleton around its gills, Britz said. To do so, they used noninvasive computed X-ray tomography CT scanning to examine what the eel looked like on the inside in 3D, and to confirm that it represented a species that was new to science. The region of India that the eel calls its home was long thought to be a dispersal gateway — a zone through which numerous species pass — rather than a habitat for permanent residents, but the blood-red swamp eel and other recent discoveries show that northeastern India harbors its own communities of unique species, study co-author Rachunliu G.

The findings were published online Aug. Mindy Weisberger is a Live Science senior writer covering a general beat that includes climate change, paleontology, weird animal behavior, and space. Mindy holds an M.