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Oxygen uptake in the Antarctic teleost Pagothenia borchgrevinki. Limitations imposed by X-cell gill disease

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Abstract

Fish in a population of Pagothenia borchgrevinki in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, are affected by a gill disease (X-cell disease) which causes tissue hyperplasia that results in a decreased gill surface area and an increased water/blood diffusion distance. P. borchgrevinki acquires 95% of its oxygen via the gills, but damage to the gills by X-cell disease did not affect this function. There was no compensatory shift to cutaneous respiration. X-cell disease reduced the ability for oxygen uptake at low ambient PO 2 and the decreased uptake was related to the extent of the disease. O 2 max was greatly reduced in X-cell affected fish and substantially reduced their aerobic potential. This effect may impair the ability of diseased fish to catch prey and avoid predators.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    William Davison, Craig E. Franklin & Peter W. Carey

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  1. William Davison
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  2. Craig E. Franklin
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  3. Peter W. Carey
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Davison, W., Franklin, C.E. & Carey, P.W. Oxygen uptake in the Antarctic teleost Pagothenia borchgrevinki. Limitations imposed by X-cell gill disease. Fish Physiol Biochem 8, 69–77 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004433

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