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Aerobic metabolic rates of swimming juvenile mako sharks, Isurus oxyrinchus

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Abstract

The shortfin mako shark, Isurus oxyrinchus, is a highly streamlined epipelagic predator that has several anatomical and physiological specializations hypothesized to increase aerobic swimming performance. A large swim-tunnel respirometer was used to measure oxygen consumption (MO2) in juvenile mako sharks (swimming under controlled temperature and flow conditions) to test the hypothesis that the mako shark has an elevated maintenance metabolism when compared to other sharks of similar size swimming at the same water temperature. Specimen collections were conducted off the coast of southern California, USA (32.94°N and 117.37°W) in 2001-2002 at sea-surface temperatures of 16.0–21.0°C. Swimming MO2 and tail beat frequency (TBF) were measured for nine mako sharks [77–107 cm in total length (TL) and 4.4 to 9.5 kg body mass] at speeds from 28 to 54 cm s−1 (0.27–0.65 TL s−1) and water temperatures of 16.5–19.5°C. Standard metabolic rate (SMR) was estimated from the extrapolation to 0-velocity of the linear regression through the LogMO2 and swimming speed data. The estimated LogSMR (±SE) for the pooled data was 2.0937 ± 0.058 or 124 mg O2 kg−1 h−1. The routine metabolic rate (RMR) calculated from seventeen MO2 measurements from all specimens, at all test speeds was (mean ± SE) 344 ± 22 mg O2 kg−1h−1 at 0.44 ± 0.03 TL s−1. The maximum metabolic rate (MMR) measured for any one shark in this study was 541 mg O2 kg−1h−1 at 54 cm s−1 (0.65 TL s−1). The mean (±SE) TBF for 39 observations of steady swimming at all test speeds was 1.00 ± 0.01 Hz, which agrees with field observations of 1.03 ± 0.03 Hz in four undisturbed free-swimming mako sharks observed during the same time period. These findings suggest that the estimate of SMR for juvenile makos is comparable to that recorded for other similar-sized, ram-ventilating shark species (when corrected for differences in experimental temperature). However, the mako RMR and MMR are apparently among the highest measured for any shark species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the following agencies for their direct and indirect support of this work, the National Science Foundation (IOB-0077502, IOB-0091987), California Sea Grant (R/F-85PD; R/F-193), Darryl Lewis and the William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Director’s Office, Tom Pfleger, and the George T. Pfleger Foundation. We would like to thank J. Valdez for logistical support and the following individuals who assisted, in one form or another, with this project: Jeanine Donley, Doug Syme, Robert Shadwick, Richard Rosenblatt, John Steinitz, Hawkins Dowis, Corey Chan, Nick Wegner, Dan Cartamil, Heather Lee, Scootch Aalbers, Phil Zerofski, Nicholas Sepulveda, Thomas Fullam, Victoria Wintrode, Ashley Knight, Jennifer Nusban, and the vertebrate collection at SIO (H.J. Walker and Cindy Klepadlo). This work is in memory of G. Bernal and F. Ledet, you will be missed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0204, USA

    C. A. Sepulveda, J. B. Graham & D. Bernal

  2. Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, 315 N. Clementine Street, Oceanside, CA, 92054, USA

    C. A. Sepulveda

  3. Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA, 02747, USA

    D. Bernal

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  1. C. A. Sepulveda
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  2. J. B. Graham
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  3. D. Bernal
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Correspondence to C. A. Sepulveda.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle.

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Sepulveda, C.A., Graham, J.B. & Bernal, D. Aerobic metabolic rates of swimming juvenile mako sharks, Isurus oxyrinchus . Mar Biol 152, 1087–1094 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0757-2

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