Icefish\'s length is 15cm, while \"normal active fish\"\'s (common goldfish) len
ID: 192086 • Letter: I
Question
Icefish's length is 15cm, while "normal active fish"'s (common goldfish) length is 10 cm.
3. The white-blooded icefish lives in the Antarctic seas where the water temperature is around -1°C. It is the only vertebrate that doesn't have any hemoglobin in its body. Instead, oxygen dissolves directly into the blood (which lacks red blood cells entirely), rather than binding to chemicals in the blood. Let's analyze some features of this fish's survival strategy. A Estimate the approximate concentration of oxygen that can be dissolved in the icefish's blood, approximating its composition to be the same as that of seawater. Compare this to the oxygen-carrying content of a "normal" active fish. By what factor is it lower?Explanation / Answer
3. Icefish restricted their habitat to extreme cold region to survive. Since icefish does not contain red blood cells the oxygen dissolved in the water is directly diffused into the blood and transported to different tissue. Solubility of oxygen is higher in cold water in compare to normal temperature and when solubility is high greater the diffusion of oxygen. Although the diffusion rate is decreased with the decrease in temperature but this decrease in diffusion rate is compensated by the high solubility of oxygen in cold water. Thus cold habitat of icefish is the stratgey to survive. In addition the skin of icefish is totally devoide of scales which promote diffusion of oxygen. Blood volume of icefish is also high; almost double of the red blooded fishes. In addition heart has large stroke volume and pressure is low. More blood capillaries are found in their skin and fins.
A. The blood volume of icefish is much more than normal fish. The normal fish can dissolve 10% of oxygen in their blood while icefish can dissolve 30-40% of oxygen.
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