Modelling swimming activities and energetic costs in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labraxL., 1758) during critical swimming tests

Abstract

Muscular activity patterns in red and white muscles linked to oxygen consumption were studied during critical swimming tests in the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax Linnaeus 1758). The species is one of the most important for Mediterranean Sea aquaculture. A sigmoid model was used to fit both the oxygen consumption and red muscle activity while the white muscle activity pattern was described by an exponential model. Red muscle reaches an activation plateau close to critical swimming speed mostly due to the oxygen diffusion velocity in tissues. The exponential activation of white muscle appears to be linked to short and sudden periods of great energy need to cope with adverse conditions such as predation and escape. Both oxygen consumption and muscular activity were found to be size dependent. The bioenergetics of sea bass was modelled based on fish mass and swimming speed to predict the minimum and maximum speed as well as the mass-specific active metabolic rate and standard metabolic rate. An important finding was that contrary to other well-known species, swimming at subcritical speeds in sea bass involves both red and white muscle in different proportions.

Basic knowledge of social hierarchies and physiological profile of reared sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (L.)

“…EMGs are bioelectrical voltage changes proportional to the degree and duration of muscle tension [95]. These signals are related to the energetic demand and consumption involved in the living activities of free-swimming fish [5, 96]. In many studies, EMGs have been used to describe the physiological state of fish in both confined [5, 27, 28] and wild [97, 98] environments.…”

“…However, after a well-defined pattern was established (dominant/subordinates), the muscle activity of the dominant fish was characterised by a significant negative trend, while the muscle activity of the subordinate γ fish showed a significant positive trend. Although the EMG signal is a direct measure of red muscle activity, it has been demonstrated that high EMG signals in European sea bass indicate an intense use of both white and red muscles [29, 96]. Consequently, the living costs of the subordinate fish are higher than those of the dominant fish, both in terms of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism [5, 96], as evidenced by a higher concentration of plasma lactate (Table 2).…”

Surgical implantation of electronic tags does not induce medium-term effect: insights from growth and stress physiological profile in two marine fish species

“…1), V9AP acoustic accelerometer tags (Vemco Systems Inc., Nova Scotia, Canada) were implanted in nine randomly selected sea bass and five randomly selected sea breams (at least two fish from each tank, except one fish from one tank for the sea bream experiment), as described in Carbonara et al [7]. Briefly, the fish were subjected to fasting for 24 h before implantation and were anaesthetized using a hydroalcoholic clove oil solution in doses of 30 mg/L [20,21]. The transmitter was inserted into the body cavity through a 1.5-cm incision.…”

Surgical implantation of electronic tags does not induce medium-term effect. Insights from growth and stress physiological profile in two marine fish species

“…1), V9AP acoustic accelerometer tags (Vemco Systems Inc., Nova Scotia, Canada) were implanted in nine randomly selected sea bass and ve randomly selected sea breams (at least two sh from each tank, except one sh from one tank for the sea bream experiment), as described in Carbonara et al [7]. Brie y, the sh were subjected to fasting for 24 h before implantation and were anaesthetized using a hydroalcoholic clove oil solution in doses of 30 mg/L [20,21]. The transmitter was inserted into the body cavity through a 1.5-cm incision.…”