Practical: Dissection of Gas Exchange Surfaces in Fish & Insects
- Dissections are a vital part of scientific research
- They allow for the internal structures of organs to be examined so that theories can be made about how they function
- There are ethical concerns surrounding dissections
- People worry about how the animals for dissections are raised and killed
- It goes against the religious beliefs of some individuals
- The biological specimen used for dissection should be from a reputable source and should be disposed of in the correct manner
- If multiple specimens are being dissected then they should be taken from individual organisms of the same species and roughly the same age
Apparatus
- Scissors
- Scalpel
- Tweezers / Forceps
- Dissection board
- Paper towels
- Biological specimen
- Pins
Method
- A lab coat, gloves and eye protection should be worn
- To avoid contamination with biological material (which could cause an allergic reaction)
- Place the specimen on the dissecting board
- Use the tools to access the desired structure
- When using the scalpel cut away from your body and keep your fingers far from the blade to reduce the chance of cutting yourself
- Scissors can be used for cutting large sections of tissue (cuts do not need to be precise)
- A scalpel enable finer, more precise cutting and needs to be sharp to ensure this
- Use pins to move the other sections of the specimen aside to leave the desired structure exposed
Limitations
- It can be hard to see some of the smaller, finer structures within organs
- The specimens do not reflect how the tissue would look in a living organism
- If only a single specimen is dissected then anomalies found within that specimen may be ignored or glossed over
Dissection of gas exchange surfaces
- The main structures of the gas exchange systems in mammals and fish can be revealed in dissections
- The much smaller gas exchange systems of organisms such as insects can be more difficult to examine by dissection
Mammalian lungs
- The key structures that can be seen from a dissection of mammalian lungs are shown in the image below
- Trachea
- Bronchi
- Bronchioles
- The smaller structures such as the alveoli can be hard to distinguish in a dissected lung
Image showing the visible structures of the lungs after dissection
Bony fish gills
- The key structures that can be seen from a dissection of fish gills are shown in the image below
- Gill arch
- Filaments
- The smaller structures such as the lamellae can be hard to distinguish in a dissected fish
Image showing the visible structures of the gills after dissection
Insect tracheal system
- Due to the small size of insect tracheal systems specialised equipment and skills are sometimes required to dissect them
- Microscopes are also needed to observe the structures
Gas exchange under the microscope
- The gas exchange surfaces of different organisms can be observed using microscopes
- They often appear very different in photomicrographs than they do in the diagrams found in textbooks
- It is important to be able to identify the gas exchange surface and the key structures present
Mammal gas exchange
- A section of stained lung tissue can be seen in the image below
- The alveoli are of different sizes and shapes
- This is because they are no longer inflated as they would be in a living lung
- The nuclei are shown as dark dots
- Blood vessels can found in between the alveoli
- Sometimes white blood cells are present in tissue samples
Image showing a section of stained lung tissue
Fish
- A section of stained fish gills taken from a dogfish are shown in the image below
- The gill arch resembles a backbone for the gills
- The different filaments are shown with many of the lamellae visible
Image showing a section of fish gills taken from a dogfish
Insect
- As insects are very small obtaining a clear image of their gas exchange system can be difficult
- Electron microscopes can take clear images of the spiracle structures found on the surface of insects, like the one shown below
Image showing a spiracle found in the wall of a caterpillar
Examiner Tip
You may be asked to suggest a method of dissection for a particular organ. Make sure you name the specific tools (e.g. scissors and forceps) that should be used in order to get the marks.