The answer to the questions are as follows...
Sharks: maintian their neutral buoyancy throughout the water column by regulating the amount of squalene, an oil with low specific gravity, is in their liver. As they move to different depths their bodies produce more or metabolise off the oil as necessary to adjust to the new depth.
Rock Fish: These fish maintian their neutral buoyancy with the most intuitive method. They have gas bladders that they can fill or drain air from in order to adjust to different depths.
Halibut: Throwing this fish in the mix was someting of a trick question. Halibut are a ground fish, like flounder, and rarely rise more than a few feet off of the sea bottom. They have no need, and hence no method, of maintaining neutral buoyancy. They must actively swim up in the water column and as soon as they stop swimming they sink to the bottom.
It is time for round two of the animal fun fact quiz. In the ocean an animal can expend a lot of energy moving from one depth to another. Fish have developed unique and really cool ways of maintaining neutral buoyancy at different depths efficiently. We are going to make you work a little bit at this one. It is a multiple part question. The question for this round is: name the primary method rock fish, shark, and halibut use to maintain their position in the water column.
Happy fact finding!
1 comment:
You're right...this took a lot of research! Here are my answers: Rock Fish have a swim bladder, a gas filled organ, allowing them to control their buoyancy. Sharks store large quantities of oil in their liver in addition to swimming contantly using their pectoral fin to provide lift. Halibut were the hardest to find information on but it seems that their eggs have either a negative or netrual buoyancy due to high organic matter content allowing the species to reproduce in their deep environments. Couldn't find much on Halibut buoyancy beyond that.
Did I win again? :)
Post a Comment