Effect of body mass and water temperature on the standard metabolic rate of juvenile yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill)

Abstract

Fish respiration rates that are presumed to represent standard metabolic rates (SMR) may sometimes include an unspecified energy expenditure associated with activity and digestion. This situation may introduce a bias in bioenergetics models because standard metabolism, digestion, and activity may not be affected by the same environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to (1) develop a SMR model for juvenile yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), that represent the minimum energy expenditure required to maintain life and (2) compare the results of this study with published perch metabolic rates and bioenergetics models. SMR was estimated for yellow perch over a range of body mass (4.4-24.7 g) and water temperature (12-20°C). The intercept of the relationship between fish respiration and swimming velocity obtained during forced swimming experiments was used to determine SMR. SMR estimated by the present study were comparable to values presented by two published studies on Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis L. However, estimated SMR were 4.1-20.9 times lower than values of a third respirometry study and predictions of bioenergetics models for perch. The present study suggests that published SMR models may sometimes include a significant fraction of energy expenditures (39.2-75.9%) associated with digestion and activity. This may complicate the implementation and the interpretation of fish bioenergetics models. The present study indicates that the intercept of respiration-velocity relationships and long-term respiration rates during starvation experiments may provide similar and reliable SMR values.

Critical oxygen tension increases during digestion in the perch Perca fluviatilis

“…1(b), (d). The M O 2 of all fish stabilized within 6-8 h after they had been transferred to the respirometer, which allowed for a reliable identification of R S , and the determinations of R S are similar to those reported by other studies on P. fluviatilis (Enders et al, 2006;Schleuter et al, 2007). The stable levels of M O 2 generally persisted during the and critical oxygen tension (P crit ) before and after feeding (n = 10).…”

Plastic responses to diel thermal variation in juvenile green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris

“…Indeed, bioenergetics models which integrate the effects of thermal variation on ectotherm energetic demands have been proposed (Holsman and Danner, 2016). The bulk of studies examining growth and metabolism in A. medirostris have been conducted on individuals chronically exposed to a constant water temperature prior to measurements (Allen et al, 2006a;Linares-Casenave et al, 2013;Mayfield and Cech, 2004); however, exposing fish to fluctuating thermal regimes better mimic habitats, which often experience diel temperature changes (Enders et al, 2006). Moreover, responses to altered waterway operations and climate change can be assessed by experimentally manipulating the magnitude of thermal variability (Enders and Boisclair, 2016).…”

Life history traits of the fish community in Lake Annecy: evidence from the stable isotope composition of otoliths

“…The increase in the proportion of metabolic source into otoliths as a function of temperature is described by an inter-species relationship. The more energetic is the fish, the more otolith carbon might be derived from a metabolic source (Sherwood and Rose, 2003 at 10 • C for whitefish (Madenjian et al, 2006), 150 mg O 2 kg −1 ·h −1 at 20 • C for pike (Armstrong and Hawkins, 2008), 200 mg O 2 kg −1 ·h −1 for juvenile perch (Enders et al, 2006), and 120 mg O 2 kg −1 ·h −1 at 23…”