MadSci Network: Zoology |
I will assume that your are asking how an anemone breathes. The simple answer is that, in the strictest sense of the word "breathe" (to inhale and exhale air), they don't. Of course, the purpose of inhaling and exhaling air is to provide for gas exchange. Carbon dioxide, which builds up in the cells of most organisms as a by product of energy metabolism, must escape to the atmosphere. Oxygen, needed by most organisms for energy metabolism, must get in. In humans and many other types of animals, this need is provided for by a respiratory system, consisting of lungs in terrestrial animals and gills (or gill-like organs) in aquatic animals. An exception is found in aquatic animals which are very small or have very thin body parts, such as the jellyfish and anemones. These animals can successfully exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide directly with the environment (the surrounding water which contains dissolved oxygen). This is how an anemone "breathes".
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