![]() After hatching the gill filaments bear typical gill lamellae, and in a 10-g fish, about 4 weeks after hatching, the lamellae are clearly visible. In the teleost fish Arapaima gigas (Arapaimidae), the reduction of gill surface area can be observed with development. To understand the transition to air-breathing in teleosts, it is important to address the question how ion or nitrogen homeostasis, for example, can be maintained in spite of a reduction in gill surface area. Reducing the surface area of the gills, therefore, has implications for many physiological phenomena (for review see ). Gills are, however, multifunctional organs, not only responsible for gas exchange, but also for ion regulation, nitrogen excretion, and they are involved in water and acid-base homeostasis, for example. Air-breathing fish are often characterized by a significant reduction in gill surface area in order to avoid loss of oxygen taken up in the air-breathing organ (ABO) at the site of the gills in hypoxic water. ![]()
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