O BSERVATION ON THE O PERCULUM M OVEMENT IN F ISHES ’ CONSIDERING THE D IFFERENT F ACTORS (D ETERGENT SOAP AND I CE ) A FFECTING ITS P RESENT E NVIRONMENT Group 8 LOMIGO, Sharrah Shelley E. TABACON, Gladys B. VAZQUEZ, Jan Bernadette C.

INTRODUCTION The operculum of a fish is a bony structure covering and protecting the gills. It is equipped with a flexible, ribbed structure which acts as a seal to prevent reverse water flow during respiration. It also plays an important part in breathing mechanism. Oxygen dissolved in the water is absorbed by the gills. The movements of the mouth floor and operculum are coordinated to produce a stream of water, in through the mouth, over the gills and out of the operculum.

O BJECTIVE The study aims to determine how a fishes’ type of environment, rather, the factors present in it, affects their operculum movement. Specifically in water with: - Ice - Detergent soap

H YPOTHESIS Ho: There is no significant relationship in the type of environment to the operculum movement of fishes. Ha: The operculum movement of a fish depends on the factors present in the environment it is residing.

M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS 3 Goldfishes ml water container containing 500 ml of water each 10 g of detergent soap 50 g block of ice Thermometer

- The Initial Temperature was taken before the experiment. -Each goldfish are placed in 3 separate water containers filled with 500 ml tap water with different factors, namely; 1 st set-up: control (Room Temp.) 2 nd set-up: Water container with 10 g of detergent soap (unstirred.) 3 rd set-up: Water container with 50 g block of ice. -Each set-up was observed for 5 minutes considering the operculum movement of each of the fishes. - for the 3 rd set-up, the final temperature was taken after the experiment.

R ESULTS For the, 1 st set-up; The fishes’ operculum movement was observed to be normal with a water temperature of 27 ̊ C. 2 nd set-up; It was observed for the first minute that the fishes’ movement was erratic as its operculum movement also became very fast when the detergent soap was added. However, on the 5 th minute, the operculum movement gradually slowed down, when blood had begun to flow from its gills also halting its jerky movements. The fish died after 10 minutes.

3 rd set-up; the fishes’ operculum slowed down as the next 5 minutes progressed, with the temperature dropping from 27 ̊ C to 20 ̊ C. The fish was observed to be still in the duration of the experiment.

D ISCUSSION In the first set-up, there was no change observed in the operculum movement of the fish. This is because there was no addition of any substance into its environment. In the second set-up, the erratic behavior of fish was due to the detergent soap that was present in its environment. As cited in the Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge:

“In fishes, operculum is vital in obtaining oxygen. They open as the mouth closes, causing the pressure inside the fish to drop. Water then flows towards the lower pressure across the fish's gill lamellae, allowing some oxygen to be absorbed from the water. Oxygen dissolved in the water is absorbed by the gills. The movements of the mouth floor and operculum are co-ordinated to produce a stream of water, in through the mouth, over the gills and out of the operculum.”

Hence, the fish in the 2 nd set-up was trying to seek for oxygen and its operculum movement became very fast. The reason is that its environment deprives this fish from getting hold of it. It’s environment in this case is polluted. And after 10 minutes, the fish died.

In the 3 rd set-up, eutrophication took place. "Eutrophication is defined as an increase in the rate of supply of organic matter in an ecosystem.” –Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge And so, the ice in the third set-up added more oxygen in the water. If we try to recall our past lessons in chemistry, water is made up of one atom of oxygen and two atoms of hydrogen. And ice is just the solidified form of water. As the ice liquefied with the water, it added more oxygen for the fish to utilize. For this reason, the fish needs not to catch its breath anymore just to supply oxygen unto its system considering that its operculum movement became gradual.

This is also true to the fact of what is the real scenario in the bodies of water nowadays. Human activities lead to exploitation of the environment; in a small or huge way. As the Philippines is considered as an archipelago, the bodies of water are the direct addressee of this problem.

C ONCLUSION It is concluded that the operculum movement of a fish depends on the type of environment that it is living, considering also the factors that affects the stability of its natural habitat.

R EFERENCES Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge Authors James E. Cloern (Lead Author);Timothy Krantz, C Michael Hogan (Contributing Author);J. Emmett Duffy (Topic Editor) "Eutrophication". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment).