air bladder

noun
1.
a vesicle or sac containing air.
2.
Also called gas bladder, swim bladder. Ichthyology. a gas-filled sac located against the roof of the body cavity of most bony fishes, originally functioning only as a lung, now serving in many higher fishes to regulate hydrostatic pressure.
Origin
1725-35
British Dictionary definitions for air bladder

air bladder

noun
1.
(ichthyol) Also called swim bladder. an air-filled sac, lying above the alimentary canal in bony fishes, that regulates buoyancy at different depths by a variation in the pressure of the air
2.
any air-filled sac, such as one of the bladders of seaweeds
air bladder in Science
air bladder  

  1. An air-filled sac in many fish that helps maintain buoyancy or, in some species, helps in respiration, sound production, or hearing. Also called swim bladder.

  2. See float.


Encyclopedia Article for air bladder

buoyancy organ possessed by most bony fish. The swim bladder is located in the body cavity and is derived from an outpocketing of the digestive tube. It contains gas (usually oxygen) and functions as a hydrostatic, or ballast, organ, enabling the fish to maintain its depth without floating upward or sinking. It also serves as a resonating chamber to produce sound. In some species the swim bladder contains oil instead of gas. In certain primitive fish it functions as a lung or respiratory aid instead of a hydrostatic organ. The swim bladder is missing in some bottom-dwelling and deep-sea bony fish (teleosts) and in all cartilaginous fish (sharks, skates, and rays)

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