Respiratory patterns and antipredator responses in the central mudminnow, Umbra limi, a continuous, facultative, air-breathing fish

1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 819-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Gee
Keyword(s):  
Air Breathing ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Resistance To Hypoxia ◽  
Antipredator Responses ◽  
Water Fish ◽  
Progressive Hypoxia ◽  
Hypoxic Water ◽  
High Level ◽  
Random Times ◽  
Frequency Of Respiration

The central mudminnow. Umbra limi, is a continuous facultative air breather whose respiration is primarily aquatic in normoxic water and primarily aerial in hypoxic water. Under these conditions the frequency of respiration (air breaths; branchial breaths) by the primary mode increases with temperature. In hypoxic water, fish exposed to simulated predator disturbance breathed air in synchrony where a breath by one fish was immediately followed by breaths from one or more other fish. Undisturbed fish breathed air at random times with respect to other individuals. The level of dissolved O2 at which fish switch from primarily aquatic to primarily aerial respiration during progressive hypoxia was positively related to temperature. When fish were exposed to progressive hypoxia in groups (n = 10) the transition to air breathing in terms of dissolved O2 concentration was unaffected by acclimation to hypoxia and by simulated predator disturbance. When held alone (isolated) and disturbed, fish became very active and switched to aerial respiration at a higher level of dissolved O2 than either fish held alone and undisturbed or fish held in a group of 10. During progressive hypoxia without access to air, mudminnows maintained both a high level or activity and frequency of branchial breathing down to 15 Torr (1 Torr = 133.322 Pa). Acclimation to hypoxia did not greatly increase resistance to hypoxia in fish without access to air.

Coordination of Respiratory and Hydrostatic Functions of the Swimbladder in the Central Mudminnow, Umbra Limi

1981 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-52
Author(s):  
JOHN H. GEE
Keyword(s):  
Water Surface ◽  
Energy Costs ◽  
O2 Uptake ◽  
Neutral Buoyancy ◽  
Air Breathing ◽  
Limited Ability ◽  
Hypoxic Conditions ◽  
Water Fish ◽  
Hypoxic Water ◽  
Dissolved O2

1. Observations of behaviour and changes in buoyancy of Umbra limi, a facultative air-breathing fish, were studied to understand coordination of respiratory and hydrostatic functions of the swimbladder. 2. Fish were exposed to either normoxic or hypoxic water in either undisturbed or disturbed (simulating predator presence) conditions. Declines in swimbladder volume occurred between air-breaths as O2 was removed. These varied between treatments averaging 1.3% in disturbed normoxic conditions, 4.1% and 6.4% in undisturbed treatments (normoxic and hypoxic conditions respectively), and 8.3% in disturbed hypoxic conditions. 3. To minimize the extent and rate of such changes and thereby reduce energy costs of a non-optimal buoyancy, fish either maintained a continuous positive buoyancy at the water surface, compressed the swimbladder gases after inspiration and gradually reduced the pressure to compensate for O2 uptake, or increased their reliance on aquatic O2. The use of any of the above mechanisms was determined by the amount of dissolved O2 and presence or absence of disturbance. 4. In normoxic water fish without access to the surface maintained neutral buoyancy despite a very limited ability to secrete swimbladder gases. 5. The frequency of air-breathing in normoxic water was independent of swimbladder O2 levels, indicating that fish breathe air in normoxic water in response to a decline in swimbladder volume. 6. The potentially conflicting roles of the swimbladder are well co-ordinated.

scholarly journals Functional conflicts between feeding and gas exchange in suspension-feeding tadpoles, Xenopus laevis

1984 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Feder ◽  
D. B. Seale ◽  
M. E. Boraas ◽  
R. J. Wassersug ◽  
A. G. Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Suspension Feeding ◽  
Air Breathing ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Metabolic Requirement ◽  
Rate Of Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Food Particles ◽  
Hypoxic Water

Air-breathing tadpoles of Xenopus laevis (Amphibia: Anura) use buccopharyngeal surfaces for both gas exchange and capture of food particles in the water. In dense food suspensions, tadpoles decrease ventilation of the buccopharynx and increase air breathing. The lung ventilatory frequency is elevated even though the rate of oxygen consumption is at or below resting levels, suggesting that the lung hyperventilation reflects compensation for decreased buccopharyngeal respiration rather than an increased metabolic requirement. If tadpoles in hypoxic water are prevented from breathing air, they increase buccopharyngeal respiration at the expense of feeding. Aerial respiration evidently permits the buccopharyngeal surfaces to be used primarily for food entrapment.

Aerial respiration in the catfish, Corydoras aeneus (Callichthyidae)

1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 1984-1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Kramer ◽  
Martha McClure
Keyword(s):  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Air Breathing ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Posterior Intestine ◽  
Partial Pressures

Corydoras aeneus uses the posterior intestine for aerial respiration. Ventilation takes place in a rapid dash to the surface. Air is inspired during the 0.06–0.07 s that the mouth is exposed; expiration occurs via the anus as the fish begins to dive. Air breathing occurs at all dissolved oxygen partial pressures [Formula: see text] from 0 Torr (1 Torr = 133.322 Pa) to at least 140 Torr, but frequency, ranging from 1–45 breaths∙h−1, is negatively correlated with [Formula: see text]. Corydoras aeneus survive at least 9 days without air breathing under normoxic conditions [Formula: see text] but below 15 Torr, only fish able to reach the surface survive. Air-breathing rates are significantly influenced by variations in depth between 10–120 cm but the pattern of response depends on [Formula: see text] and involves changes in activity.

Selective control of branchial arch perfusion in an air-breathing Amazonian fish Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 959-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Smith ◽  
B. J. Gannon
Keyword(s):  
Branchial Arch ◽  
Dorsal Aorta ◽  
Oxygen Loss ◽  
Air Breathing ◽  
Gas Bladder ◽  
Hypoxic Water ◽  
Major Branch ◽  
Β Adrenergic Receptors ◽  
Hoplerythrinus Unitaeniatus

Vascular responses to adrenergic and cholinergic agonists were investigated in the air-breathing teleost Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus during in situ saline perfusion of the ventral aorta.The vasculature resembled that of other teleosts in having inhibitory β-adrenergic receptors and excitatory muscarinic receptors, probably located in the gills. The gas bladder vessels were apparently devoid of adrenergic and cholinergic receptors.The dorsal aorta was specialized between gill arches 2 and 3 in such a way that the dorsal aorta probably received most of its blood supply from arches 1 and 2. Arches 3 and 4 supplied the large coeliac artery whose major branch was to the gas bladder. Acetylcholine reduced the number of perfused gill arches so that most of the ventral aortic flow was directed towards the gas bladder through arches 3 and 4. This was seen as a possible solution to the problem of transbranchial oxygen loss that could arise if blood oxygenated at the gas bladder was exposed to hypoxic water at the gills.

The partitioning of oxygen uptake from air and from water by the large obligate air-breathing teleost pirarucu (Arapaima gigas)

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 974-976 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Don Stevens ◽  
George F. Holeton
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Uptake ◽  
Air Breathing ◽  
Anoxic Water ◽  
Arapaima Gigas ◽  
Hypoxic Water

Pirarucu, weighing 2 to 3 kg, ventilated their gills 16 to 24 times per minute and ventilated their lungs every 1 to 2 min. Average oxygen uptake from water was 23 mg∙h−1∙kg−1; average oxygen uptake from air was 80 mg∙h−1∙kg−1. That is, in normoxic water they obtain about 75% of their oxygen from air, and never less than 50% from air. In hypoxic water the fraction from air increases, ultimately to 100% in anoxic water.

Buoyancy and aerial respiration: factors influencing the evolution of reduced swim-bladder volume of some Central American catfishes (Trichomycteridae, Callichthyidae, Loricariidae, Astroblepidae)

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1030-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Gee
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
The Body ◽  
Central American ◽  
Bladder Volume ◽  
Swim Bladder ◽  
Partial Pressure Of Oxygen ◽  
Respiratory Organ ◽  
Aerial Respiration ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Hypoxic Water

Swim-bladder volume of nine species of Central American catfishes from four families was measured and found to be very small. In seven species it supported less than 5% of the body weight in water. Seven of the nine species were found to breathe air and the volume of gas in the accessory respiratory organ varied between species, supporting from less than 5% to more than 80% of the body weight in water. In only one of these species was there gas in the accessory respiratory organ in both normoxic and hypoxic water and only in this species did the organ have a definite hydrostatic function. The remaining air-breathing species used aerial respiration only in hypoxic water and there were differences between species in frequency of gulping for air and in partial pressure of oxygen in the water at which gulping was initiated. The evolution of a reduced swim-bladder volume appears to have been in response to a demersal mode of life.

scholarly journals The Transition to Air Breathing in Fishes: III. Effects of Body Size and Aquatic Hypoxia on the Aerial Gas Exchange of the Swamp Eel Synbranchus Marmoratus

1984 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 357-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEFFREY B. GRAHAM ◽  
TROY A. BAIRD
Keyword(s):  
South American ◽  
Air Breathing ◽  
Aquatic Respiration ◽  
Environmental Selection ◽  
Blood Haemoglobin ◽  
Hypoxic Water ◽  
Breath Co2 ◽  
Hb Concentration ◽  
Swamp Eel ◽  
Exchange Surface

Synbranchus marmoratus (Bloch) breathes air during terrestrial excursions and while dwelling in hypoxic water and utilizes its gills and adjacent buccopharyngeal epithelium as an air-breathing organ (ABO). This fish uses gills and skin for aquatic respiration in normoxic (air-saturated) water but when exposed to progressive aquatic hypoxia it becomes a metabolic O2 conformer until facultative air breathing is initiated. The threshold PwOO2 (aquatic O2 tension or partial pressure in mmHg) that elicits air breathing in S. marmoratus is higher in larger fish. However, neither air-breathing threshold nor the blood haemoglobin (Hb) concentration of this species were changed following hypoxia (PwOO2 < 20 mmHg) acclimation. In hypoxic water S. marmoratus supplies all of its metabolic O2 requirement through air breathing. ABO volume scales with body weight raised to the power of 0.737 and the amount of O2 that is removed from each air breath depends upon the length of time it is held in the ABO. Ambient PwOO2 directly affects the air-breath duration of this fish, but the effect is smaller than in other species. Also, average air-breath duration (15.7 min at PwOO2 0–20 mmHg) and the average inter-air-breath interval (15.1 min) of S. marmoratus are both longer than those of other air-breathing fishes. Although the gills of S. marmoratus are involved in aerial O2 uptake, expelled air-breath CO2 levels are not high and always closely correspond to ambient PwCOCO2, indicating that virtually no respiratory CO2 is released to air by this fish. CO2 extrusion therefore must occur aquatically either continuously across another exchange surface or intermittently across the gills during intervals between air breaths. This study with S. marmoratus from Panama reveals physiological differences between this population and populations in South America. The greater Hb content of South American S. marmoratus may be the result of different environmental selection pressures.

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