© 2003 The Company of Biologists Ltd doi:10.1242/jeb.00352 Tolerance of chronic hypercapnia by the European eel Anguilla anguilla

• Main Authors: Ions At The, D. J. Mckenzie, M. Piccolella, A. Z. Dalla Valle, E. W. Taylor, C. L. Bolis
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1.4880; http://www.mbl.ku.dk/JFSteffensen/JexpBiol03-DM.pdf

Lomholt (1990), however, measured water PwCO # levels exceeding 30mmHg in European eel farms using closed-cycle recirculating water systems. It is unlikely that teleosts would ever experience such severe hypercapnia in nature, and no previous investigations into the effects of chronic hypercapnia have employed a PwCO # of above 25mmHg and rarely for longer than 10 days (Heisler, 1984, 1993; Dimberg, 1988; Larsen and Jensen, 1997; Fivelstad et al., 1998, 1999). Unusually low plasma Cl concentrations have, however, been reported to occur spontaneously in the 1717 The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 1717-1726 2003 The Company of Biologists Ltd doi:10.1242/jeb.00352 European eels were exposed for 6 weeks to water CO2 partial pressures (PCO #) from ambient (approx. 0.8mmHg), through 151mmHg and 301mmHg to 451mmHg in water with a total hardness of 240mgl as CaCO3 , pH 8.2, at 231C. Arterial plasma PCO # equilibrated at approximately 2mmHg above water PCO # in all groups, and