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Journal of Experimental Biology 35,807-823 (1958)
Published by Company of Biologists 1958

The Mechanism of Gill Ventilation in Three Freshwater Teleosts

G. M. HUGHES ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge; Department of Zoology, University of Southampton

1. A study has been made of the respiratory movements of three species of freshwater fish. The time course of pressure changes in the buccal and opercular cavities was recorded and movements of the mouth and operculum plotted from ciné films taken simultaneously.

2. Opening and closing of the mouth precede respectively abduction and adduction of the operculum by about one-fifth of a cycle.

3. The most prominent part of the buccal pressure curve is a positive pressure associated with mouth closing. The size of a negative pressure as the mouth opens is small in the trout but may be relatively large in the tench.

4. Abduction of the operculum produces a marked negative pressure in the opercular cavity of all three species and there is a slight positive pressure during its adduction.

5. The respiratory system is divided into a buccal and two opercular cavities and the concept of gill resistances separating them is introduced.

6. The respiratory cycle is made up of four phases which succeed one another. These are: phase (1) opercular suction pump predominant; phase (2) transition with a reduction in differential pressure between the buccal and opercular cavities; phase (3) buccal pressure pump predominant; and phase (4) transition with reversal of differential pressure.

7. With the exception of phase (4), which occupies only about one-tenth of a cycle, the pressure in the buccal cavity exceeds that in the opercular cavity throughout the cycle. It is therefore concluded that water will flow across the gills for almost the entire cycle but may reverse for this brief period. The quantitative relationship between the pressures and the volume of water flowing across the gills during different parts of the cycle will depend upon the properties of the gill resistances.

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