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How plecos breathe and stay "sucked on" at the same time
Posted: 17 May 2011, 00:04
by MatsP
Geerinckx, T, A. Herrel & D. Adriaen. 2011. Suckermouth Armored Catfish Resolve the Paradox of Simultaneous Respiration and Suction Attachment. J. Exp. Zool. 315:121–131, 201
http://www.evomorph.ugent.be/Publications/Publ91.pdf
Re: How plecos breathe and stay "sucked on" at the same time
Posted: 26 Nov 2011, 16:02
by corielover
Wow, I never knew that! I always thought that they somehow breathed through their noses or something.
Re: How plecos breathe and stay "sucked on" at the same time
Posted: 26 Nov 2011, 17:15
by MatsP
corielover wrote:Wow, I never knew that! I always thought that they somehow breathed through their noses or something.
Considering that fish don't actually have a "nasal passage" in the same way humans (and all other mammals) do, it would be hard to achieve that.
--
Mats
Re: How plecos breathe and stay "sucked on" at the same time
Posted: 27 Nov 2011, 18:08
by corielover
I guess not having a nose would make it hard to breath through one.
Silly me.
Re: How plecos breathe and stay "sucked on" at the same time
Posted: 28 Nov 2011, 12:51
by sidguppy
actually some fish did have a nasal passage, but those are extinct; the lobe-finned fishes of the Devonian period had them
it's no surprise that these fish are the ancestors of all backboned terrstrials
;)
great article, Mats!
saved it in my "fishy things" folder
about fish that use the mouth for sucking; it's fun to see the different solutions;
for example the Chinese algae eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) has an extra opening on the top of the gill slit and it breathes both in and out through the gills when it's attached to something.
I am quite curious how for example African suckermouth cats (Euchilichthys, Chiloglanis) have solved this problem too...