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Effect of body mass and water temperature on the standard metabolic rate of juvenile yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill)

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Abstract

Fish respiration rates that are presumed to represent standard metabolic rates (SMR) may sometimes include an unspecified energy expenditure associated with activity and digestion. This situation may introduce a bias in bioenergetics models because standard metabolism, digestion, and activity may not be affected by the same environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to (1) develop a SMR model for juvenile yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), that represent the minimum energy expenditure required to maintain life and (2) compare the results of this study with published perch metabolic rates and bioenergetics models. SMR was estimated for yellow perch over a range of body␣mass (4.4–24.7 g) and water temperature (12–20°C). The intercept of the relationship between fish respiration and swimming velocity obtained during forced swimming experiments was used to determine SMR. SMR estimated by the present study were comparable to values presented by two published studies on Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis L. However, estimated SMR were 4.1–20.9 times lower than values of a third respirometry study and predictions of bioenergetics models for perch. The present study suggests that published SMR models may sometimes include a significant fraction of energy expenditures (39.2–75.9%) associated with digestion and activity. This may complicate the implementation and the interpretation of fish bioenergetics models. The present study indicates that the intercept of respiration-velocity relationships and long-term respiration rates during starvation experiments may provide similar and reliable SMR values.

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Acknowledgements

This work is a contribution to the Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en limnologie (GRIL) and was supported by a grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to D. Boisclair and P. Mangan and by a post-doctoral fellowship from the GRIL to P. Boily. We would like to thank D. Héroux for the help in the experimental design, D. Dumont, J. Dynes, S. Verville and A. Gauthier for capturing the fish, V. Boisvert and P. East for keeping the fish in captivity and D. Bélanger and D. Boula for their assistance during the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ecological Sciences Section, 80 East White Hills Road, P.O. Box 5667, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

    E. C. Enders

  2. Département de sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale ‘Centre ville’, H3C 3J7, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    D. Boisclair

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70148, USA

    P. Boily

  4. Groupe de recherche sur les écosystèmes aquatiques, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, C.P. 500, G9A 5H7, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada

    P. Magnan

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  1. E. C. Enders
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  2. D. Boisclair
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  3. P. Boily
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  4. P. Magnan
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Correspondence to E. C. Enders.

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Enders, E.C., Boisclair, D., Boily, P. et al. Effect of body mass and water temperature on the standard metabolic rate of juvenile yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill). Environ Biol Fish 76, 399–407 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9045-0

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