gills

One of the ships was a Belgian relief vessel; the other was the SS Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship packed to the gills with explosives such as TNT, picric acid, benzol and guncotton.

The floor of the mobula ray's mouth is lined on either side with parallel, comb-like structures, called plates, that siphon water into the ray's gills.

But its wormy shape gives it the ability to swim right into the gills of fish, where it drinks its fill of blood.

Their secret to success lies within: Symbiotic bacteria live inside their gills and help them meet their nutritional needs, forming such a close relationship that these clams couldn't survive without their little companions.

"Depending on the contaminant and its chemistry, if it is small enough to pass through the gills of the mussel, it has the potential to accumulate in their tissue or precipitate within the hard-shell structure."