While cleaning a saltwater aquarium, students placed a family of fiddler crabs into a container of distilled water. What effect will this have on the crabs?

The crabs are salt water organisms, so they'll have a higher concentration gradient than the distilled water. In other words, they're hypertonic to the distilled water. This will cause them to take on water and expand; their cells bursting.

Answered by TylerK | 2024-06-10

Since crab are aquatic animals and thus when they are placed in freshwater, they do not get sufficient salt concentration to make themselves survive. The cells of the crab body (which was hyper tonic in salt water) will now become hypo tonic. Thus the osmo-regulation process will lower down thereby reducing the osmotic pressure as compared to the fluid outside. Also the distilled water lacks basic nutrients required for the crab and its family to survive.

Answered by eurydike | 2024-06-12

Placing fiddler crabs in distilled water leads to excess water entering their cells through osmosis, causing them to swell and potentially burst. This situation, coupled with the lack of necessary salts for their survival, can be fatal. Thus, it's crucial for saltwater animals to remain in environments with appropriate salinity levels to maintain their health.
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Answered by eurydike | 2024-12-26