>>45564092Theoretically, yes, actually. However, the fish would have to be oriented in such a way that water was flowing through the gills correctly (Mouth up, for most fish, most fish are designed to go forewords, even the ones with pumps work with their momentum instead of fighting it) as gills extract oxygen from water through essentially surface-surface diffusion.
In practical terms, it's very unlikely that enough water would be flowing to keep the fish alive, more likely just prolong the inevitable, plus this is contingent on the fish somehow remaining on its tail, but theoretically, yes. It's also likely that the air exposure would cause the fish to lightly bleed anyways, which is an additional challenge to long-term survival, but many fish exist with resistances to this, lungfish most obviously.
>>45564179Not quite. Water in the traditional terrestrial lung at all makes them no longer work, as the water film on the surface of the lung obstructs oxygen transfer from the air to the organ/blood, to say nothing of the reflex to expel said water interfering with life. Lungs are fouled by water in a way that gills aren't by air.
