Illustration of air bladder
- A air bladder
air bladder
noun
: a sac containing gas and especially air
The float tube was an ingenious device built around an inner tube, featuring a seat and backrest created from an additional air bladder in the nylon shell of the rig.—Peter Bodo
: such as
a
: a saclike organ present in most bony fishes which contains gas and especially oxygen and nitrogen and that serves chiefly to control buoyancy and in some primitive fish (such as the lungfish) functions as an accessory respiratory organ
Elasmobranchs lack the air bladder that gives other fishes buoyancy, and their skeletons are made of light cartilage instead of bone.—Steve Kemper
Fish make sounds by clicking their teeth, blowing air, and drumming with special muscles against tuned inflated air bladders.—Lewis Thomas
called also swim bladder
b
: a gas- or air-filled vesicle in certain algae and aquatic plants (such as rockweed) that helps keep photosynthetic blades and fronds buoyant
At the base of each frond is a small air bladder that buoys the blade up to the surface, where it continues to grow while forming a dense canopy approximately 4 feet deep.—Jennifer Winger
called also pneumatocyst
Cite this Entry
“Air bladder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/air%20bladder. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.
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