Example of Animals That Breathe Through Skin

Biology / by admin / July 04, 2021

Breathing is carried out in different ways in living beings and It consists essentially of the exchange of certain gases such as oxygen with light gases as well as the expelling of carbon dioxide., which promotes biological function. The breathing is essential for metabolism of all biological entities and is necessary for the introduction of oxygen to the system.

The skin breathing or skin breathing It occurs in animals found in fairly humid and even aquatic environments, despite the fact that some have lungs. In cutaneous respiration, the skin must be constantly moist as well as it is necessary that the skin is very thin and permeable to gases.

Types of animals that breathe through skin:

1.- Annelids.
2.- Amphibians and
3.- Echinoderms.

Annelids:

The body of annelids is made up of rings or segments, and that is why its name is "Annelids" which means ring, these animals are worms that have a mouth on one side and a mouth on the other. year.

They are animals that reproduce through eggs.

These animals are not destined for any other organ to breathe, and it is through their moist and thin skin that their body absorbs the oxygen necessary to preserve their life.

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Animals that breathe through skin
Polychaetes (marine)

It is the type of annelids that are most abundant and are divided into wandering and free-living polychaetes, some that circulate everywhere being essentially marine and the seconds that go deep into the earth or loose gravel but park in one place absorbing the oxygen from the environment that surrounds.
Polychaetes (terrestrial and freshwater)

Earthworms; These feed on organic waste found in the earth, and make caverns that allow biological activity in the habitat that surrounds them, as we already said, their respiration is carried out through the skin, and they absorb the oxygen that is around they.

Hirudineans

In these are the leeches which feed on the blood of the living beings that are around them, they are considered external parasites and attack vertebrates.
They suck them through their suction cups, which are not detected by the victims because of enzymes found in their saliva which inhibit the sensation, they suck blood from the victims doubling their initial size and their reproduction is for each one of them because they are hermaphrodites, their respiration is through the skin, and their habitat is in humid places such as swamps.

Amphibians:

These are animals that live both in water and on land, including frogs, toads, salamanders and newts, which live in a dual habitat.
In reality, there are few amphibians that can exist in salt water because their skin is very permeable and toads have warty skin living in caves in humid and dark places.
These are born in the water, and after some changes they change their life towards the terrestrial world.
Its respiration is through the skin, which changes to pulmonary respiration, as its skin is smooth, without hair or scales and moist, which allows cutaneous respiration.

Echinoderms:

Sea urchins are invertebrate animals, and these have as very primitive animals the respiration through the skin as it happens with rotifers nematodes and flatworms, which do not have a respiratory system taking oxygen directly from the environment by diffusion.