Pisces are cold-blooded creatures, but they have a heart. And the functions of the heart in fish are the same as in humans. Yes, it is arranged in a completely different way, but its main task is to ensure the movement of blood through the body.
The location of the heart in a fish
The heart in fish is located in the front of the body, close to the gills. The fish heart has only two chambers - the ventricle and the atrium. They contract in turn, pushing blood to the respiratory system, then to other organs.
Different fish species have different amounts of blood, but often it is 1.5-2 percent of the weight of the fish. For example, a carp weighing 2 kilograms, when gutted, turned out to be no more than 40 milliliters of blood.
The pulse in most fish reaches 15-30 beats per minute. In the first weeks of life in fish, the heart beats much faster.
Do fish have veins?
The body of a fish, like the human body, is permeated with veins, capillaries, and blood vessels. The abdominal aorta departs from the heart of the fish, then it branches into separate arteries.
Blood from the heart is pushed into the abdominal aorta, where it enters the arteries connected to the gills. The blood there is saturated with oxygen, then it is carried to all organs.
