| Literature DB >> 33168918 |
Eric Ste-Marie1, Yuuki Y Watanabe2,3, Jayson M Semmens4, Marianne Marcoux5, Nigel E Hussey6.
Abstract
Metabolic rate is intricately linked to the ecology of organisms and can provide a framework to study the behaviour, life history, population dynamics, and trophic impact of a species. Acquiring measures of metabolic rate, however, has proven difficult for large water-breathing animals such as sharks, greatly limiting our understanding of the energetic lives of these highly threatened and ecologically important fish. Here, we provide the first estimates of resting and active routine metabolic rate for the longest lived vertebrate, the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus). Estimates were acquired through field respirometry conducted on relatively large-bodied sharks (33-126 kg), including the largest individual shark studied via respirometry. We show that despite recording very low whole-animal resting metabolic rates for this species, estimates are within the confidence intervals predicted by derived interspecies allometric and temperature scaling relationships, suggesting this species may not be unique among sharks in this respect. Additionally, our results do not support the theory of metabolic cold adaptation which assumes that polar species maintain elevated metabolic rates to cope with the challenges of life at extreme cold temperatures.Entities:
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Year: 2020 PMID: 33168918 PMCID: PMC7653932 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76371-0
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Sci Rep ISSN: 2045-2322 Impact factor: 4.379
Summarized data for Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) that underwent respirometry trials in Tremblay Sound and Scott Inlet, Nunavut, Canada (n = 4). Reported study temperatures represent the mean recorded temperature throughout the trials.
| Mean mass-adjusted metabolic rate (mgO2 h−1 kg−0.84) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shark ID | Sex | FL (cm) | Mass (kg) | Date | Location | Study temp (℃) | rRMR ± SD | aRMR ± SD | TBF (Hz) | Respirometer |
| 1 | M | 227 | 126a | 2018-09-01 | Tremblay Sound | 3.8 | 23.07 ± 4.62 | 30.96 ± NA | 0.18 | Circular |
| 2 | F | 163 | 40.8a | 2019-09-20 | Scott Inlet | 4.9 | 22.29 ± 2.90 | – | – | Rectangular |
| 3 | F | 172 | 52.4 | 2019-09-21 | Scott Inlet | 4.9 | – | 40.46 ± 2.17 | 0.23b | Rectangular |
| 4 | F | 155 | 33.4 | 2019-09-21 | Scott Inlet | 5.1 | 17.23 ± 0.90 | – | – | Rectangular |
| Mean | – | 63.1 | – | – | 4.7 | 20.86 ± 3.17 | – | – | – | |
aMass estimated from Leclerc’s 2012 equation using fork-length (FL).
bMovement was restricted by wall of respirometer.
Figure 1Comparison of literature derived whole-animal SMR and rRMR estimates for eighteen ectothermic shark species from nine families (MO2 units = log10 [mgO2 h−1]). Each black point represents the study-specific mean whole-animal MO2 provided for a species at a specific experimental temperature and mass. Red points represent rRMR estimates for the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus). (A) Depicts log10-transformed SMR and rRMR estimates (adjusted to a standard mass of 10 kg) against experimental temperature. The black line represents the SMR of a shark species predicted using the interspecies Q10 value derived from our multiple regression analysis, while the blue lines represent the maximum and minimum Q10 values observed for specific shark species (Ginglymostoma cirratum and Sphyrna lewini respectively). (B) Depicts log10-transformed SMR and rRMR estimates (adjusted to a standard temperature of 10 °C) against the log10-transformed mean mass of sharks used in each study. The black line represents the SMR of a shark species predicted using the interspecies allometric scaling exponent derived from our multiple regression analysis, while the blue lines encompass the range of predicted SMR values calculated with commonly used allometric scaling exponents derived for global teleost fish in previous meta-analyses (see “Methods”).
Figure 2Photographs of the two respirometers used in this study. (A) Depicts the large “circular” type respirometer used in Tremblay Sound in 2018 (Photo by Eric Ste-Marie). (B) Depicts the smaller “rectangular” type respirometer used in Scott Inlet in 2019 (Photo of E. Ste-Marie taken by Jena Edwards and used with permission).