Aquatic Animals

Any animal, invertebrate or vertebrate, that spends the majority of its life in water is considered an aquatic animal. Many insects such as mosquitoes, mayflies, dragonflies and caddisflies have aquatic larvae, with winged adults. Aquatic animals use specialised organs called gills to breathe air or extract oxygen from water, or they can breathe directly through their skin. Aquatic (water) or terrestrial (land) environments and the animals that live in them can be classified (land). The term "aquatic" refers to animals that live in both fresh and salt water. The adjective marine, on the other hand, is most commonly applied to animals that live in saltwater, such as those found in oceans and seas.