Why is it possible to dig up live fish from the soil when the soil is so dry?

There was a period of African people, bare hands in the dry soil, digging up live fish, which attracted people's attention. One is that the African continent itself has a strong mystery, and the other is that they can dig up live fish from the dry soil, which really subverts ordinary people's perception.

In our cognition, fish are marine organisms, even if they are fished ashore, they should be put into the reservoir or tank in time.

Then, it is unbelievable that live fish can be dug up in a dry mud field that is not even a swamp, and even a shovel can be dug up to raise ashes.

So, what's going on here?

It turned out that the Africans dug out of the dry mud were "African lungfish" that were "hibernating". Yes, you heard it right, it's "summer" sleep and "lung" fish.

According to the common knowledge we already have, we know that squirrels and bears rely on "hibernation" to reduce energy consumption, and wait until the next spring when the flowers bloom before coming out to feed. In addition, ordinary fish use their gills to complete their own respiratory circulation. Normally, as soon as the gills open, water flows from the mouth of the fish into the body, absorbing the oxygen from the water, and as soon as the gills are closed, the water is squeezed out of the body, removing carbon dioxide from the body.

Why is it possible to dig up live fish from the soil when the soil is so dry? It all starts with the survival of the barramundi.

The "lungs" of the lungfish are different from the lungs we have, and they are more similar to the swim bladders of fish, which scholars call the "primitive lungs". Barramundi can breathe through both gills and primitive lungs, so they don't die as soon as they leave the water, unlike other fish. This unique structure gives lungfish a chance to survive in arid conditions.

The climate of the African savannah is divided into dry and rainy seasons, and when the dry season comes, most of the water sources will dry up, and even air-breathing fish such as barramundi cannot withstand long-term heat and exposure, so they need to find a "hiding place".

In fact, the method adopted by barramundi has been used by many aquatic organisms, that is, "burrowing". We know that yellow eels, loaches and other creatures have to burrow into the mud, but in fact, the same is true for lungfish.

When the high temperature of the dry season gradually evaporates the water, the lungfish will take advantage of the soil to get into it and wrap itself, and will also secrete mucus itself, which can stay moist for a long time, and the dry soil has no water in it so that the lungfish can use the gills to breathe, so they can only breathe through their original lungs. Therefore, lungfish need to leave a breathing hole in their hiding place to ensure that they do not suffocate while waiting for the rainy season.

If the soil is so dry, it is possible to dig up live fish from the soil, because the soil that digs out live fish is in the water, and the arid land is outside the water, and it is not excluded that amphibian fish, fish that can live and breathe on land. That's why such a miracle happened.

We all know that fish can't do without water, and flowers can't do without the sun. If the fish leave the water, they will become dehydrated and dry up and die. Of course, there is a fish called amphibian fish, which can live both on land and in water.

On February 21, 2022, due to the ongoing drought, the water level of the lake in California, USA, is still low, and the surrounding land is dry and cracked. Where the water of the lake is low, the fish will burrow into the soil, and at that time the fish can be dug up in the soil.

Therefore, although the land is so dry, in the soil of the water, live fish can be dug up. The ability of amphibian fish to breathe on land is also a miracle of nature.

African barramundi. Of course, in the rainy season, all the plants and animals on the African land have recovered, which is the season of great joy, and the African barramundi will also drink enough water at this time to eat small shrimp and crabs. Whenever the dry season comes, the African lungfish will look for silt in the gradually arid rivers, drill dozens of centimeters of holes in the silt, and then curl up in the body and secrete mucus to protect the body, so as to start "summer hibernation".

In the long-term historical evolutionary process, the African lungfish evolved two sets of respiratory systems in order to adapt to the environment of Africa, and when in the water, it is the same as ordinary fish, breathing with gills; And when the dry season comes, they use the swim bladder instead of the lungs to breathe, their swim bladder is very developed, and the structure has evolved to be similar to that of terrestrial animals, in the dry season, the swim bladder of the African lungfish is equivalent to the "lungs", so it is also called the African lungfish.

In our common sense, fish should live in water. ......In arid soil, there can be no live fish.

However, in some places, live fish are indeed dug out of the arid soil.

This is the case for several reasons:

1. Special fish.

First of all, we need to affirm the fact that not all fish can survive in arid soil.

For the vast majority of fish, once out of the water, they cannot survive.

Therefore, the fish that can be dug out of the arid soil is a special kind of fish ......African barramundi.

This fish has one characteristic: its swim bladder has a special structure and has part of the function of the lungs. ......As a result, the African barramundi can breathe with its swim bladder in a water-scarce environment.

That's why it's possible to dig up live fish from arid soil.

2. Special environment.

The environment in which the African barramundi lives is relatively special, divided into the rainy season and the dry season.

During the rainy season, there is abundant rain and the rivers are dense.

During the dry season, when rivers dry up, barramundi can only survive in the mud by hibernating. ......It can take up to several months.

It is precisely because of such a special environment and the special ability of the African barramundi itself that it is possible to dig up live fish from the arid soil.

It should be noted that there are not many fish that can survive in relatively dry environments such as silt and other places that are separated from water sources, and only a very few species of fish such as African lungfish have such ability.

As for other fish, in an arid and water-scarce environment, the only way to survive is to keep eggs behind.

Nature is magical, for example, the lungfish forms a protective film on the outside of the body during drought to reduce water loss, and is active when there is water. The time can reach several years.

Although the land was dry at the time, the groundwater was still operating, so it is possible that these fish survived on the groundwater.

The continent itself has some strong mysteries, and although it is said that fish cannot do without water, there are many mysterious phenomena of nature that are not answered.

With such a drought in the soil, why can live fish still be dug up? This is rarely the case!

Maybe this fish has this ability to survive.

There are 4 species of lungfish, the family of African lungfish, the genus of African lungfish, also known as the genus Protofinfish, mudfish.

The lungfish is a special species of fish that can breathe with gills when in the water, but it has a special swim bladder that allows the lungfish to breathe air directly after leaving the water.

During the dry season in Africa, barramundi burrows into the wet mud and curls up in small burrows; In order to prevent drying out, it will secrete special mucus from ** to wrap the whole body to form a waterproof layer, leaving only a small hole to breathe, use their muscles and fat as nutrients to survive, and reduce the metabolic rate to one-sixtieth of the original, about less than 2% of normal.

Protopteridae is a protopterus fish.

Living in fresh water, in addition to breathing with gills, they can also breathe with bladders instead of lungs, and even in dry waters, they burrow into the mud for summer sleep, which can last for months. But there is a time limit. The reason why the lungfish can live outside the water, as its name suggests, can be used"lungs"to breathe.

African durz.

The African Duz lungfish is a freshwater fish similar to coelacanths. In ancient times, it was bred in large numbers on the earth, and there are still a few of its species that have been preserved, which can be said to be a kind of "living fossil". The jaw is self-grafting, usually breathes with gills, and can be used as a lung to breathe when it dries up, the swim bladder has an opening in the esophagus, which can be called the inner nostrils, the dorsal fin, anal fin and caudal fin are healed together, there is no hard bone on the jaw, and there are special tooth plates.

The structure of the swim bladder of the lungfish is very similar to the lungs, and gas exchange can be carried out, so some people call the swim bladder of the lungfish "primitive lung". For the vast majority of fish, the role of the swim bladder is mainly to help the fish float or sink and enhance balance, while respiration is done through the gills. The special thing about the lungfish is that it can breathe not only through the gills, but also through the swim bladder.

This allows barramundi to survive for a long time in the absence of water.

What does a barramundi look like? Dissection revealed that the lungs of the fish were almost as long as the body cavities of the entire fish. This amazing fish has lungs and is therefore able to breathe.

Subsequent studies have found that it can breathe simultaneously with its gills and lungs, or it can breathe with its lungs or gills alone. In fact, the lungfish has two sets of respiratory systems, in the water it breathes with its gills, and in the dry season, when the river dries up, it hides in the mud and breathes with its lungs. Subsequently, lungfish were classified as an order of the subclass Flesh-finned fishes into the genus Neo-Horntooth of the Horntooth family Horntooth Fishes of the order Horntooth Fishes.

No fish can leave the water completely.

But mudskippers can leave the water for a long time. Mudskippers are the genius of fish, and they spend a lot of their lives without being in the water. The places where they live are overgrown with mangroves, and they are happy to climb up to the trunks or branches.

They use their pelvic fins as suckers, which they use to grasp trees, and they use their pectoral fins to crawl upwards. Mudskippers have small pockets around their gills that hold water for a breath, much like we can hold for a breath. They climb trees, so they can stay out of the water at high tide.

Hope it helps.

The African ramundi, which lives underground in the Sahara Desert. A real creature wonder of the world! Dryland fish