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The interrelated effects of body size and choroid rete development on the ocular O2 partial pressure of Atlantic (Gadus morhua) and Greenland cod (Gadus ogac)

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Abstract

The interrelated effects of body size and choroid rete development on the ocular partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) of the mainly temperate Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, and the exclusively polar Greenland cod, G. ogac, were investigated using micro-optode O2 sensors. Due to a difference in geographical distribution, it is hypothesized that G. ogac will possess features favouring visual-metabolic processes in a cold, dark environment. The relative size of the eye was identical between species and exhibited negative body-size scaling. The oxygen-secreting retia of both gadid species are extremely well developed and, although variable, recordings of ocular PO2 were consistently and often greatly in excess of atmospheric pressures (27.7–138.3 kPa). The choroid rete was slightly more developed in G. ogac, but ocular PO2 was not significantly different between the two species. Choroid rete development scaled isometrically with body size in both species and may explain why differences in body size did not account for any of the variation in ocular PO2 measures. The hypothesis that polar-fish species exhibit marked visual-metabolic adaptations as a result of their cold, dark environment is not wholly supported by the current data.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Nordic Arctic Research Programme (NARP 56-003). We are extremely grateful to the staff at the Arctic Station, University of Copenhagen, and the crew of R/V Porsild for their logistic support. We also wish to thank the Danish National Science Foundation and the Elisabeth and Knud Petersens Foundation for support of our research in Greenland.

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  1. Marine Biological Laboratory, Strandpromenaden 5, 3000, Helsingør, Denmark

    Neill A. Herbert, John F. Steffensen & Anders D. Jordan

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  1. Neill A. Herbert
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  2. John F. Steffensen
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  3. Anders D. Jordan
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Correspondence to Neill A. Herbert.

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Herbert, N.A., Steffensen, J.F. & Jordan, A.D. The interrelated effects of body size and choroid rete development on the ocular O2 partial pressure of Atlantic (Gadus morhua) and Greenland cod (Gadus ogac). Polar Biol 27, 748–752 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0657-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0657-6

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