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OSMOTIC AND IONIC REGULATION

IN FIN FISHES AND SHELLFISHES

Submitted by
Tincy varghese
FNB 44

All living organisms including fish, need to maintain critical levels of salts, alkalinity
(buffering capacity), and dissolved organic compounds in their internal cell environment.
Since fishes live in water, we may conclude that the fluid exchange between their bodies and
the environment is a bit different from what we observe in land-living creatures such as
humans. The principle of osmoregulation, however, is the same – there is a movement from
an area with high concentration to area with low concentration of something. In addition,
they have to maintain the balance between their internal and external environment. Fishes
which perform migration between freshwater and marine water environment need more
complex mechanisms for the maintenance of their internal environment. The ionic and
osmotic challenges of fishes vary with salinity.
Water and small electrolytes like urea and ammonia can move through pores of the
hydrocarbon chain of the lipid bilayer in the plasma membrane. Na+ K+ and Cl+ will pass with
the help of transporter proteins. These ions move passively or actively. Although kidney is
the most important organ for excretion of monovalent cations in terrestrial animals, in fishes
extra renal epithelial tissues such as gill filament, gut, urinary bladder etc are involved for the
same. In elasmobranches salt gland and rectal glands helps for the excretion of the ions.

Osmoregulation-definition

Osmoregulation refers to regulation of the total ion concentration, whereas ion

regulation is the regulation of individual ions in blood and tissues. Regardless of the method
a fish uses to maintain its osmotic and ionic balance , osomoregulation is usually energy-
intensive, affecting growth and swimming performance
According to the strategy used for osmoregulation, fishes can be
divided into 5 groups.

1.Hagfishes (Myxiniformes)

These are eel-like primitive jawless fishes inhabit in deep-water marine habitats. They
are strictly marine and stenohaline. So they are able to tolerate only narrow ranges of
salinities. Thus, they deal with the problem of osmoregulation by not dealing with it
(osmoconforming), i.e. they maintain an internal salinity identical to the water in which it
lives .So they are called osmoconformers.
However, the individual ionic concentration may be different which need an ionic
regulation mechanism to maintain the balance. Hagfishes maintain a greater sodium
concentration and lower concentrations of the divalent ions like magnesium, calcium, and
sulphate. Hagfish kidneys actively secrete the divalent ions through urine and slime. Also
slime seems to have a role in retarding sodium loss.

2.Marine Elasmobranches

Like most of the vertebrates, elasmobranches maintain a salt content approximately a

third as saline as seawater. However, large amounts of organic salts such as urea and TMAO
in the ratio 2: 1bring the total osmotic concentration equal to that of seawater. They operate
isosmotically.The coelacanth, a primitive bony fish, uses this same strategy along with the
common strategy of bony fishes. Although the salinity of elasomobranch tissues is less than
seawater, the total salt concentration is equivalent to seawater. Elasmobranches gills are quite
water permeable. However, this passive water influx and efflux minimized because the total
concentration of salts inside and outside these fishes is equal. Thus, there is no problem with
water gain or loss to the fish. Na+ and Cl- out flow is minimized because elasmobranches
have low permeability to these ions .
These fishes still have to manage concentrations of sodium and chloride ions. These
fish accomplish this by excreting sodium and chloride via a rectal gland, found only in
elasmobranches.

When the rectal gland fluid contain more ions they secrete it outside.Its membrane and
glandular wall contain cells with special Na+ K+ ATPase activity,which is involved in
actively transporting across the glandular wall into the rectal gland lumen. From the lumen it
is excreted outside

3.Marine Teleosts

Marine Teleosts maintain a salt content approximately one third as saline as seawater.
They operate hyposmotically, i.e. continually losing water and gaining monovalent ions
(chloride) across the gill membranes. To minimize this loss these fishes continually drink
seawater to regain water. However, this results in the higher intake of salts which has to be
excreted .They excrete these salts especially chloride via special cells in the gill filaments
and opercular skin called chloride cells through active transport mechanism. They also
excrete salts through intercellular junctions. Teleostian kidneys excrete divalent cations such
as mg2+ and so42-. However, the kidneys of these fishes cannot produce urine that is more
salty than the blood as do terrestrial vertebrates. Their kidneys may be sometimes
aglomerular or parciglomerular with low filtration capacity.’

Chloride cells;

In marine teleosts α type of chloride cells are present. It contains high amount
mitochondria. Major functions are as follows These cells contain Na+ K+ ATPase system
which actively transports Na+ out of the cell in exchange of K+. Thus This enzyme system
functions to maintain a Na+ gradient- a high Na+ in the tubules and low Na+ in the cytoplasm
.This low Na+ in the cytoplasm drives Na+ Cl- linked carrier system which will build up Cl-
inside the cell. This excess Cl- carried out of the cell following an electrochemical gradient
through the apical pit of the chloride cell. Na went out of the cell diffuses to the water
through the shallow intercellular junctions.
4.Freshwater Teleosts and Freshwater Elasmobranches

These fishes maintain an internal salinity equal to 1/4-1/3rd of the concentration of

seawater. However, it is higher than that of their environment Therefore, they tend to gain
water and lose chloride and other monovalent ions. They operate hyperosmotically .So they
gain water by diffusion to the body. This excess water has to be excreted by the kidneys.
Thus, the large, well developed, kidneys of these fishes continually excrete excess water as
dilute urine. Hormones secreted by Rennin Angiotensin aldosterone System control the urine
secretion. Up to one third of the body weight of water is excreted per day. Along with these
urine and gill excretion some salts are also lost from the body .This diffusion loss can be
minimized by increased calcium concentration and with the help of hormone Prolactin.
Also these fishes have β type of chloride cells; however, the chloride cells of
freshwater fish pump chloride into rather out of the body through gills by active transfer
mechanism using salt pump. . H+ ATPase system and The Na+ K+ ATPase system assist the
movement of ions into the body .The Na+ exchange for NH4+ conveniently eliminates the
ammonia produced. Na+ exchange for H+ and Cl- exchange for HCO3- .Thus the active intake
of Na+ and Cl- through ion exchange pumps are necessary for adequate excretion of NH4+,H+
and HCO3-.
5.Euryhaline and Diadromous fishes

Euryhaline fishes tolerate a wide range of salinity. e.g. sheep head minnow
(cyprinodon variegatus),mossambique Tilapia,striped bass (Morone saxatilis ) Diadromous
fishes are Euryhaline fishes that move between salt and fresh water at a particular phase of
their life cycle. Pacific lamprey ( Lampetra tridon ),Pacific salmon ,American eel (Anguilla
rostrata).These fishes operate hyposmotically in seawater and hyperosmotically in
freshwater. When Anguilla move from freshwater to seawater they experience a loss of 4%
body weight. Within two days they will be adapted to the sea water by adopting the strategy
of drinking seawater. These all processes are carried out with the help of increased gill Na+
K+ ATPase activity, which requires energy.
Although they are able to osmoregulate even with the change in salinity, their
growth rate and metabolic efficiency is maximum at certain optimum temperature e.g.
euryhaline sciaenid

OSMOTIC AND IONIC REGULATION IN SHELLFISHES

Osmoregulaton in Crustaceans

1.Osmoconformers

Marine crustaceans usually live in the relatively constant salinity of offshore waters.
These animals rarely encounter low-salinity waters and most of them cannot control the salt
concentration and osmotic pressure of their body fluids; they are called "osmoconformers"
because the osmotic pressure of their body fluids is very close to that of the external medium
However, some live in estuarine waters in which the salinity changes continuously as the
tides ebb and flow and as rainy seasons alternate with dry ones. These animals can control to
varying degrees the salt concentration of their body fluids and are called "osmoregulators."

2.Hyperosmoregulators

Crabs which can actively transport salts into their body fluids are able to keep the ion
concentration and osmotic pressure of their blood higher than that of the more dilute external
medium and are called "hyperosmoregulators" Thus, they do not suffer from lowered
haemolymph salt concentration when they are in estuarine waters. Because the osmotic
pressure of their blood is higher than that of the medium, blood water concentration is lower
and water moves into the crab by osmosis. The crab deals with this osmotic water load by
increasing its urinary rate. However, the urine it makes is isoosmotic with the blood because,
unlike freshwater crustaceans and vertebrates, it cannot reabsorb salts from its urine. This, in
turn, means that the crab loses a lot of salt in its urine when it is in dilute waters at the head
of an estuary. If the crab is to be able to keep its blood from becoming diluted, this lost salt
must be replaced by increased inward salt pumping by the gills.
When a crab is in a medium that is the same osmotic pressure as its blood it is said to
be isoosmotic with the medium and it neither gains nor loses water by osmosis. Drinking and
urination are minimal in such a medium. Hyperosmoregulating crabs use their gills to
actively pump salts into their blood as necessary to osmoregulate. Their gills have patches of
special epithelial cells known as "ionocytes" which have many mitochondria to make the
ATP which powers the sodium pump and "tight junctions" between cells at the apical
surface.

3.Hypoosmoregulators

Crabs which actively transport ions out of their body fluids are called
"hypoosmoregulators" and their body fluids have a lower ion concentration and osmotic
pressure than the medium . This, in turn, means that they loose water to the medium by
osmosis and that they must drink to replace this water loss. Such drinking increases the salt
concentration of the blood and the "extra" salt must be pumped out of the crab. A few crabs
are able to pump salts out of their body fluids with their gills have Na+ k+ ATPase activity

Osmoregulation in molluscs

Molluscan species such as, snails, clams and many others beautiful sea shell creatures
are isoosmotic. This means that the molluscan species have the same level of osmotic
pressure like their environment. When some group of molluscan migrates there is no problem
of osmoregulation and they can inhabit, adjust and sustain stability in their new environment.
All molluscan species do not do this. Mangrove molluscs can not easily adjust to their new
environment .They have a special adaptations technique that will let them survive in their
new condition. Once they become adjusted to their new environment there will be a balance
of water when they excrete and through their wastes out of their body, are called
osmoregulators. Freshwater molluscs are osmoregulators.
 In marine molluscs, free metal ions or cations cross the cell membrane without
energy cost. They maintain ionic balance by storage of ammonia in their body. They provide
this ammonia as a nitrogen source to symbotic algae lives in their body. The kidney,
respiratory system and the mantle plays the most important role in molluscan osmoregulation
as these tisssues contain Na+ K + ATPase system. However in terms of other animals it varies
and they have different bodily components that balance their water concentration. Sometimes
in order to maintain osmotic balance, nutrients and salts are reabsorbed .To regulates the
body volume they store more organic compounds such as amino acids and quarternary amine
compounds rather than inorganic ions.

Freshwater molluscs, however, possess very active Ca2+ pumps since they must build
calcified shells in a hypotonic environment with associated osmotic and ionic balance
problems. Freshwater bivalves have higher urine production than that of gastropods as
gastropods have more concentrated haemolymph than bivalves.

REFERENCES

Books

1.Peter B. Moyle, Joseph J. Czech ;Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology (5th

Edition),Osmotic and ionic regulation in fishes Pages 90-94
2.David. H .Evans, Physiology of fishes,2nd edition, Pages 157-171

Websites

http://dobrinishte.org/fishes/index_files/image14521.jpg
http://www.ehu.es
http://www.montana.edu
http://jeb.biologists.org