How Do Trout Breathe?

Hi everyone!

Check out this video of a trout breathing shared with us by South Seneca 5th grade teacher Liz McCheyne. You can't see from the angle in the video, but the trout is breathing by bringing water through its mouth and into its gills (which you can see moving). How fast do you think the trout is breathing? Can you count the number of breaths in the 20 second interval?

Oxygen is mixed into the water as it runs
over the rocks above Upper Treman falls.

Trout breathe through a process called diffusion, where oxygen in the water moves across a membrane in the trout's gills and into their bloodstream. Much like when we breathe air, the concentration of oxygen in the water determines how quickly the trout breathes and how much oxygen is brought into the blood with each breath. In the videos of our trout releases and in our classroom visits, we often talk about our trout needing cold water. This is because cold water is able to hold more oxygen, allowing the fish to breathe more easily without stressing their gills.

Our fish in the tank at South Hill
Elementary have an air bubbler
  to add oxygen to their water.

Did you count how fast the trout breathes in the video? How do you think that would change in colder water? In warmer water? Do you think the trout's breathing in the video is only related to water temperature? Might the trout breathe faster if stressed by being out of the tank and under observation?






Liz's classroom is the only one to still have trout, out of our 20 Trout in the Classrooms, check out her trout respiration experiment! We work with a whole host of amazing teachers in our programs, so shout out to all the teachers out there who are putting in extra time and effort to create virtual lesson plans. Discover Cayuga Lake is here for you!