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ArticlesCopyright © 1981 by American Association for the Advancement of Science
Larvae of air-breathing fishes as countercurrent flow devices in hypoxic environments
Larvae of the air-breathing teleost fish Monopterus are frequently exposed to periods of critical hypoxia, which they can survive because they have (i) dense capillary networks in the skin, (ii) a small blood-water barrier, (iii) an active pectoral fin mechanism that generates a posteriorly directed respiratory water current originating from the oxygen-rich surface layer, and (iv) a principal flow of blood that runs countercurrent to the water stream. Experimental data show that the larva as a whole is a functional analog of a fish gill lamella and that similar adaptive mechanisms are present in larvae of ancient fishes and some modern teleosts inhabiting permanently or periodically hypoxic waters.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
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