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150:, or Rana cancrivora, is an example of a vertebrate osmoconformer. The crab-eating frog also regulates its rates of urea retention and excretion, which allows them to survive and maintain their status as osmoconformers in a wide range of external salinities. Hagfish maintain an internal ion composition plasma that differs from that of seawater. The internal ionic environment of hagfish contains a lower concentration of
142:(TMAO) to counter the effect. Sharks adjust their internal osmolarity according to the osmolarity of the sea water surrounding them. Rather than ingesting sea water in order to change their internal salinity, sharks are able to absorb sea water directly. This is due to the high concentration of urea kept inside their bodies. This high concentration of urea creates a
118:, which means they can survive in a broad range of external osmolarities. Mussels are a prime example of a euryhaline osmoconformer. Mussels have adapted to survive in a broad range of external salinities due to their ability to close their shells which allows them to seclude themselves from unfavorable external environments.
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are crucial to many major biological functions on a cellular level. Consequently, the ionic composition of an organism's internal environment is highly regulated with respect to its external environment. Osmoconformers have adapted so that they utilize the ionic composition of their external
138:. Their body fluid is isosmotic with seawater, but their high osmolarity is maintained by making the concentration of organic solutes unnaturally high. Sharks concentrate urea in their bodies, and since urea denatures proteins at high concentrations, they also accumulate
114:, which means they can only survive in a limited range of external osmolarities. The survival of such organisms is thus contingent on their external osmotic environment remaining relatively constant. On the other hand, some osmoconformers are classified as
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of the organism's cells is equal to the osmotic pressure of their surrounding environment. By minimizing the osmotic gradient, this subsequently minimizes the net
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of water into and out of cells. Even though osmoconformers have an internal environment that is isosmotic to their external environment, the types of
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environment, which is typically seawater, in order to support important biological functions. For instance, seawater has a high concentration of
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that maintain an internal environment which is isotonic to their external environment. This means that the
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Campbell, Neil A.; Lawrence, G. Mitchell; Reece, Jane B. (2000). "Control of the
Internal Environment".
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gradient which permits the shark to absorb water in order to equalize the concentration difference. The
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in the two environments differ greatly in order to allow critical biological functions to occur.
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An advantage of osmoconformation is that such organisms don’t need to expend as much energy as
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Any marine organism that maintains an internal osmotic balance with its external environment
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are also osmoconformers. Some osmoconformers, such as echinoderms, are
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ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, SO4 2-) and a slightly higher concentration of
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signaling when paired with high internal concentrations of
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263:Bradley, Timothy J. (2009).
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102:- primitive chordates), and
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308:The Biology of Hagfishes
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212:. Retrieved
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471:Homeostasis
421:Stenohaline
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381:Isotonicity
292:Sharks Info
172:sodium ions
112:stenohaline
100:sea squirts
80:echinoderms
460:Categories
426:Salt gland
416:Euryhaline
190:References
116:euryhaline
59:osmolarity
405:Halophile
359:Salt and
214:March 13,
144:diffusion
128:craniates
122:Craniates
96:ascidians
92:jellyfish
288:"Sharks"
180:neuronal
152:divalent
130:such as
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88:lobsters
78:such as
65:Examples
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239:506–507
132:hagfish
108:insects
84:mussels
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136:sharks
36:efflux
32:influx
313:ISBN
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