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

• Published in: Fish Physiology and Biochemistry
• Main Authors: Davison, W, Franklin, CE, Carey, PW
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1990
• Subjects: aerobic scope; antarctic; gills; Pagothenia; respiration; VO2 max; X-cell; 1104 Complementary and Alternative Medicine; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; 1300 Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology; 1314 Physiology; 2737 Physiology (medical); Antarctic; McMurdo Sound; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:383470

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.