SURVIVAL ANALYSIS AND THE OPERCULUM
MOVEMENT OF FISHES DEPENDING ON THE
TEMPERATURE OF THE WATER THE FISH LIVES IN
Introduction

“The operculum of a bony fish is the hard bony
flap covering and protecting the gills. In most
fish, the rear edge of the operculum roughly
marks the division between the head and the
body.” Ambrose, Harrison W. III & Ambrose,
Katherine Peckham. A Handbook of Biological
Investigation. Winston-Salem: Hunter Textbooks
Inc., 1995.

“Counting gill cover movements is a
way to calculate respiration rates in
fishes. Fishes breathe by taking water in
through the mouth and forcing it over
the gills as the mouth closes and an
oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange
occurs.” Spurgeon, Richard. Usborne
Science & Experiments: ECOLOGY.
London: Usborne
Publishing Ltd., 1988
Then the operculum opens to allow
the carbon dioxide-rich water to exit.
By just counting the gill cover
movements, we can get an idea that
fishes' response to an ecological
change, especially in temperature.
 ‘Typical’ fishes are meant to live in
water with temperatures between 23 C
and 30 C .

Objective

To determine what factors affect the
movement of the operculum of a fish
according to the components of the
water the fish lives in. To determine if
the fishes survive(dead or alive) in
coordination of its estimated time.
Hypothesis

Ho: There is no relationship between
the temperature of the water the fish
lives in and the operculum movement
of the fish.

Ha: There is a relationship between the
temperature of the water the fish lives
in and the operculum movement of the
fish.
Materials & Methods:
Two (2) container filled with 700 ml
water each.
 185 g of ice
 Two (2) fishes with the same length,
colour, shape, and specie.
 Thermometer
 Stirring Rod (Optional)

Procedure:
185 g of ice was put inside container B.
The temperature of the water inside each
container was measured using the
thermometer. The two fish were put in
each container: Mutya in Container A;
Marina in Container B. The fish were
observed for at least 6 minutes.

The comparison between
Figure 1 & Figure 2.
Results
Fish
Water
Temp.
(Celsius)
Mutya
27
Marina
15
Time of
Death
(minutes)
Flaps
Alive
-
2 flaps/sec
Dead
6
240 flaps
before time of
death
Discussion

Fish A (Mutya) has a rate of operculum
movement with 2 flaps per second with the
normal temperature of the environment the
fish intakes, and it is alive within the due
time of 10 minutes. On the other hand, Fish
B (Marina) has a rate of 40 flaps per minute
of operculum movement due to the cold
temperature of the water, and turned out to
be dead within the bound of 6 minutes.
Conclusion

Therefore, the group has concluded that
one of the factors that affect the
movement of the operculum of a fish is the
water it lives in. In this case, adding ice to
the water or placing the fish in a water
with a very low temperature causes its
operculum movement to decrease from its
normal operculum rate.
Reference

Ambrose, Harrison W. III & Ambrose,
Katherine Peckham. A Handbook of
Biological Investigation. Winston-Salem:
Hunter Textbooks Inc., 1995.

Spurgeon, Richard. Usborne Science &
Experiments: ECOLOGY. London: Usborne
Publishing Ltd., 1988
Authors
 Madrid,
John Glicerio
 Persigas, Jann Terrence
 Bagotsay, Claudine Kae
 Roy, Maycielo