Dynamics of vertebrate respiratory mechanisms

Fishes

Among the most primitive of present-day vertebrates are the cyclostomes (lampreys and hagfishes), the gill structures of which are in the form of pouches that connect internally with the pharynx (throat) and open outward through slits, either by a fusion of the excurrent gill ducts into a single tube (in Myxine) or individually by separate gill slits (in Petromyzon). The gill lamellae of cyclostomes form a ring around the margins of the gill sac, and the series of sacs is supported in a flexible branchial skeleton. The number of paired pouches varies in different forms from six to 14. The pharynx of lampreys divides into an esophagus above and a blind tube below, from which the gill pouches arise. The upper pharynx of hagfishes communicates to the exterior through a nostril, a structure absent in lampreys. When the parasitic lampreys are embedded in the flesh of fish, upon which they live, they maintain a flow of water through the gills by alternate contractions of the gill pouches. When the gill-pouch muscles relax, the pouches expand, and water is sucked in. The water is forced out through the gills by muscular contraction; the branchial musculature apparently prevents reflux of the water into the pharynx while the head of the lamprey is embedded in the flesh of its prey.

In the hagfish Myxine glutinosa, the major oxygen supply is derived from water drawn in through the nostril that opens into the pharynx. A peculiar respiratory structure, the velum, just behind the nostril opening, dangles from the upper midline of the pharynx, resembling an inverted T. Membranous scrolls attached to this horizontal bar can extend downward and then roll upward like window shades. A combination of velar and gill-pouch contractions directs the flow of water through the gill pouches. Foreign material entering the nostril is expelled from both the mouth and nostril by a violent “sneeze.” This reaction probably protects the respiratory surfaces, since the animals have common respiratory and alimentary ducts. Blood flow in the gills of cyclostomes, as in those of bony fishes, is in a direction counter to that of water flow—an arrangement that increases the efficiency of gas exchange across the respiratory surface.

Cartilaginous fishes (sharks and rays) and bony fishes employ a double-pumping mechanism to maintain a relatively constant flow of water over the gill exchange surfaces. In sharks and rays a small forward gill slit, the spiracle, also provides a channel for water flow into the gill chamber. Bottom-dwelling forms (e.g., skates) have relatively larger spiracles, and the major portion of the water flow passes through them rather than through the downward-oriented mouth.

The pumping mechanism is not the only method of ventilation; sharks have been observed to keep both mouth and gill flaps open while swimming, ensuring a constant water flow across the gill surfaces. When they slow down or settle to the bottom, the pumping activity is resumed. Tunas and mackerel cannot stop swimming: They have no active respiratory mechanism and are dependent for their gill ventilation on the current that results from their forward motion through the water.

A number of fishes depend in varying degree on aerial respiration. The ability to breathe air enables them to live in places where the oxygen content of water may be low or nil. Two general means of acquiring oxygen are employed. Some fishes stay near the surface of the water, where the oxygen pressure resulting from surface diffusion is highest. Others have developed ancillary respiratory structures in the pharynx or the stomach; the gulping of air at the surface is a means of charging these respiratory surfaces (such as the pharyngeal epithelium in Electrophorus or the stomach in Plecostomus). The frequency with which these fishes rise to the surface to gulp air corresponds to their current need for oxygen.

The swamp-dwelling Erythrinus of Guyana uses both aquatic and aerial respiration, varying them according to the gaseous composition of the water. When the oxygen content is low, respiration through the gills ceases; when the oxygen content of the water is high, the fish relies primarily upon its gills except when the carbon dioxide content is also high—when, again, aerial respiration predominates. In other conditions it uses both modes of respiration. This apparently extends the range of conditions in which Erythrinus can survive.

Eels (Anguilla) use their skin as a major respiratory surface in addition to their gills. In water, about 15 percent of their oxygen uptake is across the skin, and this rises to around 50 percent when in air. They are capable of making extensive overland migrations during which, in the first few hours, they draw upon oxygen in the swim bladder. Like most fishes, eels when out of water exhibit a reduced heart rate and less oxygen consumption. When they return to water, their heart rate rises, and both oxygen consumption and blood lactic-acid levels rise. Lactic-acid production results from metabolism without oxygen, and such acid products must themselves be metabolized through higher oxygen consumption. Such patterns have been observed in grunions of the California coast that come ashore to breed, and even in flying fishes during their brief aerial excursions.

The lungfishes (Dipnoi) are remnants of the Devonian period and a transitional form between water and air breathers. Like amphibians, they rely on the buccal force pump mechanism to inflate the lung. They are adapted for bimodal respiration so that oxygenated blood leaving the air-exchange organ, either gills or lung, can pass to the afferent branchial circulation and then to the body tissues or can be dispatched to the lungs. The three dipnoan genera differ with respect to their reliance on the gills or lungs. In the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus), the bulk of oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide elimination is by way of well-developed gills; in the African lungfish (Protopterus) and the South American lungfish (Lepidosiren), the gills are reduced and ventilation depends heavily on the lungs. In the latter two, which rely primarily on lung ventilation, separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood is much more complete than in the Australian lungfish.

During long periods of drought, both Protopterus and Lepidosiren build a subterranean cocoon that opens to the surface via a thin tunnel. They then enter into a state of estivation in which metabolism, respiration, and heart rate fall to low levels. This state of diminished oxygen requirement enables the lungfish to remain viable without food or water for months or years, until the waters return.

The bowfin, Amia calva, has both gills and an air bladder that may be used for respiration. It is almost exclusively a water breather at 10° C (50° F), a temperature at which it shows low physical activity. Its air-breathing rate increases with temperature and activity, and, at around 30° C (86° F), it draws about three times as much oxygen from air as from water. As in lungfishes, carbon dioxide elimination is predominantly across the gills. The bowfin’s air-breathing frequency varies inversely with the oxygen content of the water; when oxygen tensions in water decline below 40 or 50 millimetres of mercury at 20° C (68° F), air breathing largely replaces water breathing. When an exchange surface (gill or air bladder) is not being utilized as the primary oxygen-exchange site, there is a tendency for blood to bypass it.

The so-called electric eel of South America (Electrophorus electricus) inhabits muddy streams that may become severely oxygen deficient. It is an obligatory air breather that depends upon the exchange of oxygen across the membranes of its mouth, expelling the air through its gill slits. Its blood has a high percentage of red corpuscles, is high in hemoglobin, and has an oxygen-absorbing capacity similar to that of mammals. Carbon dioxide elimination is primarily across the skin and, to a lesser extent, through the vestigial gills.