Why are aquatic species more comfortable in cold water in comparison to warm water?
Henry’s Law states that “the partial pressure of the gas in vapour phase (p) is proportional to the mole fraction of the gas (x) in the solution” and is given by the equation p = KHx, where KH is the Henry Law’s constant. From the equation, it is deduced that higher the KH at a given pressure, lower is the solubility of the gas in the liquid. For O2, the value of KH also increases on increase of temperature, thus an increase in temperature will reduce the solubility of the gas. Therefore, a reduction in temperature will increase the solubility. Hence, aquatic species are more comfortable in cold water due to the increased solubility and availability of O2.