• Question: Can fish ever stop breathing underwater?

    Asked by AA7MUFC to Chris, Josh, Rebecca, Rob, Susan on 23 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Josh Meyers

      Josh Meyers answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      Most fish have muscles in their necks which force water from their mouths through their gills. The gills then extract the oxygen the fish needs to respire. This seems to be involuntary just like human breathing.

      However, some fish (many sharks) can get oxygen by swimming forwards fast in order to force water over their gills. If they do this, they don’t need to use their neck muscles. So you decide, does this count as not breathing?

      Here’s a link that explains it better!
      http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/about-this-show/can-sharks-drown/

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