How do deep-sea creatures avoid getting crushed b y the water pressure?

UNLIKE ANIMALS living on land or in shallower water, deep-sea animals have few or noair-filled spaces in their bodies. Their tissues are mostly,liquid, and the pressure of their internal fluids matches the pressure of the surrounding water. Deep-sea animals alsohave special cellular and biochemical adaptations.High pressure can make cell membranes too rigi deep-sea species often have membranes rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which help them remain flexible and functional. Pressure can also disrupt the three-dimensional shapes of proteins, causing  them to become unstable or denature. Molecules such a s trimethylamine N-oxide-which help proteins hold their shape in animals like sharks and rays-occur in especially high concentrations in snail fishes, the deepest documented fishes in the oceans. Together, these adaptations help animals to survive and persist in the deep sea, despite the crushing pressures.

Andrea Quattrini and Ellen Strong, research zoologists; National Museum of Natural History

 

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