Relationships among traits of aerobic and anaerobic swimming performance in individual european sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax

Marras, S., Killen, S. S. , Domenici, P., Claireaux, G. and McKenzie, D. J. (2013) Relationships among traits of aerobic and anaerobic swimming performance in individual european sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax. PLoS ONE, 8(9), e72815. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072815) (PMID:24019879) (PMCID:PMC3760853)

Abstract

Teleost fishes exhibit wide and temporally stable inter-individual variation in a suite of aerobic and anaerobic locomotor traits. One mechanism that could allow such variation to persist within populations is the presence of tradeoffs between aerobic and anaerobic performance, such that individuals with a high capacity for one type of performance have a reduced capacity for the other. We investigated this possibility in European seabass <i>Dicentrarchus labrax</i>, each measured for a battery of indicators of maximum locomotor performance. Aerobic traits comprised active metabolic rate, aerobic scope for activity, maximum aerobic swimming speed, and stride length, using a constant acceleration test. Anaerobic traits comprised maximum speed during an escape response, maximum sprint speed, and maximum anaerobic burst speed during constant acceleration. The data provided evidence of significant variation in performance among individuals, but there was no evidence of any trade-offs among any traits of aerobic versus anaerobic swimming performance. Furthermore, the anaerobic traits were not correlated significantly among each other, despite relying on the same muscular structures. Thus, the variation observed may reflect trade-offs with other morphological, physiological or behavioural traits.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Killen, Professor Shaun
• Authors: Marras, S., Killen, S. S., Domenici, P., Claireaux, G., and McKenzie, D. J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 The Authors
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 8(9):e72815
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License