Respiratory Media

Respiratory Media

To the tune of “Happier” by Olivia Rodrigo 

[Verse 1]
O2 is 30 times more
Soluble in air than water
Water-breathers ventilate
30 times more to compensate
Water is much dense
And it is far more viscous
This means to water breathe
Is far more energetically costly

[Chorus]
Those that water breathe
Cannot achieve true endothermy
This is because, energetic cost
Water-breathing will demand
A larger percent of resting metabolism

[Verse 2] 
Carbon dioxide is 30 times more soluble
In water than oxygen molecules
It’s solubility
In air and water is approximately equal
A direct consequence of this
Is that the gills of fish
Are hyperventilated
With respect to CO2 concentration

[Chorus]
Arterial PCO2
Is an order of magnitude
Higher in air breathers
Than in those that breathe water
Vertebrates will use
Peripheral chemoreceptors to
Sense changes in blood gas levels
Triggering changes in ventilation
A mechanism of compensation

[Bridge]
Ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

[Chorus]
Air-breathers will alter
Their ventilatory pattern
In response to blood PCO2
Water breathers are different
They respond to changes in blood oxygen