OSMOREGULATION

Osmoregulation
OSMOREGULATION
Osmoregulation
Water the medium in which life first appeared on earth causing greatest diversity
on earth.
Animal body contains 60-70% by volume ,it varies from tissue to tissue, it is the
medium where all bio chemical reactions take place
Nail and teeth – 10%, grey matter -85%
Water in body is present in two forms- free and bound water
Free water medium is for various biochemical reactions and is subject to
thermoregulatory control
Bound water ( water of hydration ) – do not under go changes easily
Osmoregulation
• The term osmoregulation coined by Hober in 1902

Definition : Collective activities of the variety of mechanisms used
by organisms to control water movement and water volume
• Maintenance of internal osmotic concentration different from that
of the external medium
ENTER - Drinking, food, osmosis
Water in the body
Leave - Urine, sweating, respiration , exocytosis

Osmoregulation
Animals live and adjust in FOUR types of

environment –
• Marine
• Terrestrial
• Fresh water
• Brackish water
Osmoregulation
• Osmoregulatory organs : Contractile vacuoles, flame

cells, nephridia, chloride glands and kidneys
• The degree of regulation of internal environment with
reference to external environment varies greatly in
different groups of animals. Base on this animals
divided into various types
1) POIKILO OSMOTIC /OSMOCONFOMERS/
OSMODEPENDANTS – In these forms osmototic
concentration of body fluids fluctuates according to
the changes in the surroundings they live in .
On basis of degree of tolerance and their ability to
survive different osmotic environment osmo confomers
are further divided into – Stenohaline and Euryhaline
forms
Osmoregulation
• STENOHALINE FORMS : Those animals which can

only withstand only slight fluctuations in salinity,
they are sensitive cannot tolerate variations in
salinity Eg. Nereis, Asterias, Ctenophora, gold fish
,corals etc
• EURYHALINE FORMS : Animals which can tolerate
wider range of salinity and wider range of osmotic
concentration Eg.Mytilus , Carcinus, Artemia
Migratory fishes learn to adjust or osmoregulate in
both hypertonic and hypotonic medium
Osmoregulation
2) OSMOREGULATORS : are animals that can

maintain the concentration of the body fluid
DIFFERENT from their surrounding environment, they
need some mechanisms to either remove or retain
water in the body
Osmoregulators are further classified as –
1) Hyper osmotic regulators- they maintain the body
fluid above that of the surrounding medium
Eg.Octopus
2) Hypo osmotic regulators -they maintain the body
fluid below that of the surrounding medium Eg.
Artemia and other crustaceans
Osmoregulation
• In fresh water environment the concentration of

body fluid of an animal is higher than that of the
environment , the environment is hypotonic
• In marine environment the concentration of body
fluid of an animal is lower than that of the
environment , the environment is hypertonic
• If the concentration of body fluid of an animal is
equal to that of the environment ,the environment
is isotonic
IONIC BALANCE IN ARTEMIA (BRINE SHRIMP )
Artemia is a marine crustacean, lives in salt lakes

and salt evaporation tanks ( 300gms /liter water )
Normal sea water – 35 gms/liter, fresh water – 0.5 gms
/liter
Artemia can live in dilute sea water – 2.5 gms /liter
but cannot live in fresh water
In brine, Artemia is able to regulate the ionic balance
like a hyporegulator . Haemolymph is hypo osmotic to
the media
Osmo regulatory mechanisms in Artemia
1) Cuticle – with low permeability prevents ex osmosis and dehydration
2) Continuously swallows salt water (3% of body weight /hour ) and
absorbing the water to prevent dehydration
3) From gut ,water enter the haemolymph by active process ( increased
ATPase activity ) . Osmo concentration of gut fluid is greater than the
haemolymph, water from the gut enters the haemolymph
4) Na+ & Cl- in the gut fluid is less than in the haemolymph , therefore these
ions and water is absorbed , concentrated from the gut and excreted via
the intestine
5) Salt in the haemolymph is eliminated by first 10 pairs of gills
6) They excrete highly concentrated/ hypertonic urine
7) The principal organs of water balance is the gut and of Nacl regulation is
the gills
8) When osmotic concentration of sea water increases developing nymphs
become dormant cysts, glycerol which prevents dessication accumulates
,they hatch out when favourable conditions return
Osmo regulatory mechanisms in Artemia
Ionic balance in Fresh water Teleosts ( Osteichthyes/ Bony fish )
FRESH WATER TELEOSTS – face problem of hydration as the body fluid con: is
greater than the surroundings as water gets in osmotically , also by passive
diffusion,as they exists in a hypotonic surrounding.
F.W Teleosts should eliminate excess water and retain the salts by the following
means :
1) Drinking very little water
2) Salts are absorbed by chloride cells of the gills
3) Reabsorbs salts along the length of the convoluted tubules
4) Produce large amount of very dilute urine (5-12% of body weight/day )
5) Kidney is complex , has tens of thousands of large glomeruli with well developed
blood supply –excess water along with organic acids, creatine , creatinine, some
amino acid H+ ions, little urea and ammonia is filtered from the blood through the
glomeruli, salts and glucose are reabsorbed into the blood stream through the
epithelium of kidney tubules along with ions like , Mg+, Ca++,SO4--, P, HCO3- by
active transport
6) Large cycloid scales blocks inflow of water
Ionic balance in Fresh water Teleosts
Ionic balance in Marine Teleosts ( Osteichthyes/ Bony fish )
MARINE TELEOSTS – Marine teleosts need to conserve water and maintain the con : of
body fluid above that of the surrounding medium. It is done by the following means :
1) Drink excess water
2) Have fewer and smaller glomeruli, poorly vascularized with low blood pressure
3) Excrete salts along the length of its convoluted tubules
4) Produce small amount of very concentrated urine (2.5ml/KG body wt /day)
5) Specialized tissue ( chloride cells )in the gill region have evolved to actively excrete
large amounts of salts
6) Active secretion of salts –Mg++,SO4--, Ca++,Na+, Cl-,HCO3- and also urea, creatine,
creatinine ,uric acid
7) Passive diffusion of water back into the blood, finally urine with 10% of entire
nitrogenous waste is formed
8) Rest of the nitrogenous waste actively excreted by the gills which are richly
supplied with mitochondria
9) Salts are also lost via feces due to intestinal absorption of salts
Ionic balance in Marine Teleosts
Ionic balance in Elasmobranchs / Cartilagenous fishes/ Chondricthytes)
There are few fresh water elasmobranchs and they have osmoregulatory
mechanisms similar to fresh water teleosts
In marine elasmobranchs the plasma is only 1/3rd concentrated as compared
to sea water, this causes water loss through exosmosis
To avoid water loss ,the body fluid is maintained at a higher concentration
than sea water by retaining urea in the blood. Specialized segment of the
nephron reabsorbs urea and returns it to the blood.
Influx of urea raises the osmotic pressure of the blood to just above that of
sea water water flows into the body of the shark
Have numerous well developed glomeruli excrete large amount of
dilute urine
Urea denatures proteins but the presence of Trimethyl Amine Oxide (TMAO)
nullifies the effect of urea
Ionic balance in Elasmobranchs / Cartilagenous fishes
TMAO makes the plasma hypertonic water enters into the body
eliminates wastes in form of urine
Special rectal glands eliminates Na+ ions that enter across gill epithelium.
Rectal glands open into the rectum and excretes excess salts
Cartilagenous fishes maintain ionic balance by:
1) Ingesting salt along with water and food
2) Water is absorbed by skin and gills
3) Gills block loss of urea and TMAO
4) Most urea and TMAO retained by kidneys
5) Excess salt lost via feces
6) Na+ ions excreted by rectal gland, divalent ions through urine
Ionic balance in Elasmobranchs / Cartilagenous fishes
Ionic balance in Migratory Fishes
Some fishes have split life histories – spending part of their
lives in fresh water and the other part in marine habitat
Diadromous forms (di- two, dromous –running .
The migratory process involves a switch in osmoregulatory
processes
Types of migration
1) Anadromy : Adults spawn in fresh water, juveniles move to
sea for several years for feeding and growth, then migrate
back to fresh water Eg. Salmon
2) Catadromy : Adults spawn at sea, juveniles move to fresh
water for several years for feeding and growth, then migrate
back to sea to spawn Eg. American eel
Ionic balance in Anadromous Fishes Ex. Salmon
*Adults spawn in FRESH WATER, juveniles ( smolts) move to

SEA, feed and grow ,adults migrate to freshwater to spawn
after 1-2 years
*They travel average distance of 3000Km to find its fresh
water breeding ground
*Adults are marine form and like other marine bony teleosts
need to conserve water
*Adult salmons have plenty of reserve food to endure the
journey from sea to river
*In fresh water adults behave like fresh water bony teleosts
*There is a switch in osmoregulatory mechanism
*Many adults die after spawning but some females return to
sea to feed and recover before spawning a second time
Ionic balance in Catadromous Fishes Ex. American Eel
• ADULTS spawn at SEA ,juveniles migrate to FRESH WATER to

feed and grow and RETURN TO SEA to spawn
• Eels are fresh water euryhaline migratory fishes that have
ability to adapt to diverse osmotic environment and like other
fresh water fishes face the problem of hydration
• Eels take 8-12 years to mature,then they move down stream
out of river to sea
• When they reach sea they face the problem of dehydration
like marine fishes
• They spawn at great depths ,about 275 meters , young eels
spend 3 years in sea later find their way to fresh water, grow
become adults and migrate to sea
• Hormones involved in osmoregulation are produced by the
neurohypophysis. One of the hormones is arginine vasotocin
,which is similar to vasopressin –to conserve water
Osmoregulation
Acknowledgement :
Wikipedia
Google

OSMOREGULATION

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Osmoregulation

• The term osmoregulation coined by Hober in 1902

ENTER - Drinking, food, osmosis

Water in the body

Leave - Urine, sweating, respiration , exocytosis

Animals live and adjust in FOUR types of

• Osmoregulatory organs : Contractile vacuoles, flame

• STENOHALINE FORMS : Those animals which can

2) OSMOREGULATORS : are animals that can

• In fresh water environment the concentration of

Artemia is a marine crustacean, lives in salt lakes

*Adults spawn in FRESH WATER, juveniles ( smolts) move to

• ADULTS spawn at SEA ,juveniles migrate to FRESH WATER to

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