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Canadian__Ninja t1_iy4ju4x wrote

There's oxygen in water, why can't you breathe underwater?

The answer to your question though is that fish bodies, in particular their gills, cannot handle being out of water and thus can't handle breathing and getting oxygen through their blood.

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cordazor t1_iy4ljxg wrote

Yes, that's well known. the op wants to know why. Read the question again

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CR1MS4NE OP t1_iy4k14r wrote

What about air can they not handle?

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Moskau50 t1_iy4ob6f wrote

Air dries out and cannot support the fish's gills, causing them to collapse. Once they collapse, they aren't contacting nearly enough air to exchange enough oxygen to keep the fish alive.

Think of how seaweed or kelp in the water can use its buoyancy to stretch itself out, but once out of water, it's just collapses into a heap.

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