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Thermal sensitivity of metabolic rates and swimming performance in two latitudinally separated populations of cod, Gadus morhua L.

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Abstract

Atlantic cod populations live in a wide thermal range and can differ genetically and physiologically. Thermal sensitivity of metabolic capacity and swimming performance may vary along a latitudinal gradient, to facilitate performance in distinct thermal environments. To evaluate this hypothesis, we compared the thermal sensitivity of performance in two cod stocks from the Northwest Atlantic that differ in their thermal experience: Gulf of St Lawrence (GSL) and Bay of Fundy (BF). We first compared the metabolic, physiological and swimming performance after short-term thermal change to that at the acclimation temperature (7°C) for one stock (GSL), before comparing the performance of the two stocks after short-term thermal change. For cod from GSL, standard metabolism (SMR) increased with temperature, while active metabolism (AMR, measured in the critical swimming tests), EMR (metabolic rate after an exhaustive chase protocol), aerobic scope (AS) and critical swimming speeds (U crit and U b–c) were lower at 3°C than 7 or 11°C. In contrast, anaerobic swimming (sprint and burst-coasts in U crit test) was lower at 11 than 7 or 3°C. Factorial AS (AMR SMR−1) decreased as temperature rose. Time to exhaustion (chase protocol) was not influenced by temperature. The two stocks differed little in the thermal sensitivities of metabolism or swimming. GSL cod had a higher SMR than BF cod despite similar AMR and AS. This led factorial AS to be significantly higher for the southern stock. Despite these metabolic differences, cod from the two stocks did not differ in their U crit speeds. BF cod were better sprinters at both temperatures. Cod from GSL had a lower aerobic cost of swimming at intermediate speeds than those from BF, particularly at low temperature. Only the activity of cytochrome C oxidase (CCO) in white muscle differed between stocks. No enzymatic correlates were found for swimming capacities, but oxygen consumption was best correlated with CCO activity in the ventricle for both stocks. Overall, the stocks differed in their cost of maintenance, cost of transport and sprint capacity, while maintaining comparable thermal sensitivities.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council to H.G., support from Quebec-Ocean to D.L. and E-L.S, and operating funds from DFO to J.-D.D. We would like to thank Sara McLean, François Tremblay, Richard Larocque, Lisane Gamache and Bernard Chénard for their excellent technical support at the Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de biologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada, G1K 7P4

    Eve-Lyne Sylvestre & Helga Guderley

  2. Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau,Terre et Environnement, Université du Québec, 490 rue de la Couronne, Québec, QC, Canada, G1K 9A9

    Dominique Lapointe

  3. Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Pêches et Océans Canada, 850 route de la Mer C.P. 1000, Mont-Joli, QC, Canada, G5H 3Z4

    Jean-Denis Dutil

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  1. Eve-Lyne Sylvestre
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  2. Dominique Lapointe
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  3. Jean-Denis Dutil
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  4. Helga Guderley
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Correspondence to Helga Guderley.

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Communicated by H.V. Carey.

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Sylvestre, EL., Lapointe, D., Dutil, JD. et al. Thermal sensitivity of metabolic rates and swimming performance in two latitudinally separated populations of cod, Gadus morhua L.. J Comp Physiol B 177, 447–460 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-007-0143-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-007-0143-x

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