Response of heart rate and cloacal ventilation in the bimodally respiring freshwater turtle, Rheodytes leukops, to experimental changes in aquatic PO2.

Changes in heart rate (f(H)) and cloacal ventilation frequency (f(C)) were investigated in the Fitzroy turtle, Rheodytes leukops, under normoxic (17.85 kPa) and hypoxic (3.79 kPa) conditions at 25 degrees C. Given R. leukops' high reliance on aquatic respiration via the cloacal bursae, the objective of this study was to examine the effect of varying aquatic PO(2) levels upon the expression of a bradycardia in a freely diving, bimodally respiring turtle. In normoxia, mean diving f(H) and f(C) for R. leukops remained constant with increasing submergence length, indicating that a bradycardia failed to develop during extended dives of up to 3 days. Alternatively, exposure to aquatic hypoxia resulted in the expression of a bradycardia as recorded by a decreasing mean diving f(H) with increasing dive duration. The observed bradycardia is attributed to a hypoxic-induced metabolic depression, possibly facilitated by a concurrent decrease in f(C). Results suggest that R. leukops alters its strategy from aquatic O(2) extraction via cloacal respiration in normoxia to O(2) conservation when exposed to aquatic hypoxia for the purpose of extending dive duration. Upon surfacing, a significant tachycardia was observed for R. leukops regardless of aquatic PO(2), presumably functioning to rapidly equilibrate blood and tissue gas tensions with alveolar gas to reduce surfacing duration.