Effects of lower jaw deformity on swimming performance and recovery from exhaustive exercise in triploid and diploid Atlantic salmon

• Published in: Aquaculture
• Main Authors: Lijalad, M, Powell, MD
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science Bv 2009
• Subjects: Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences; Fisheries Sciences; Aquaculture; Wasa; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2009.01.039; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/61795

a b s t r a c tArticle history:Received 16 May 2008Received in revised form 19 January 2009Accepted 22 January 2009Keywords:Lower jaw deformityAtlantic salmonPloidySwim performanceMetabolic rateLower jaw deformity is a common deformity in cultured triploid Atlantic salmon in Tasmania. However, thephysiological effects of this deformity have not been studied. Swimming performance and anaerobic capacitywere assessed in sibling diploid, triploid and triploid with lower jaw deformity all female Atlantic salmon.There were no significant differences in the critical swimming speed attained by any of the groups of salmon.However, a second swim challenge after a recovery period of 45 min revealed that triploid salmon with lowerjaw deformity were not capable of attaining the same critical swimming speed as in their first test. There wasa positive correlation between the severity of the lower jaw deformity and the extent to which recoverybetween swimming bouts was compromised. Oxygen consumption rates (both routine and maximal) asdetermined after a bout of exhaustive exercise were identical between all groups of salmon but triploid andtriploid with lower jaw deformity fish had a lower excess post-exercise oxygen consumption and recoveredtheir oxygen consumption to pre-exercise levels quicker than diploid fish. This suggests that the aerobiccapacity of the fish was not necessarily adversely affected by ploidy or LJD but that but that recovery fromexhaustion was affected by jaw deformity. In exhausted fish, triploids and in particular those with skeletaldeformity, recovery of EPOC was quicker than with diploids potentially as a result of either not accruing thesame oxygen debt or else having the ability to repay the oxygen debt more quickly. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved