Partitioning of oxygen uptake between the gills and skin in fish larvae: a novel method for estimating cutaneous oxygen uptake.

The goal of this study was to develop an alternative to the traditional rubber dam method for measuring cutaneous oxygen uptake in bimodally respiring (skin + gills) fish larvae. The method tested involved using microelectrodes to measure the PO2 gradient in the diffusive boundary layer adjacent to seven positions on the skin surface (one on the head, two on the yolk sac, two on the trunk, one at the base of the dorsal fin-fold and one on the proximal portion of the caudal fin-fold) of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) larvae in still water. The PO2 gradient (deltaPO2/delta x, where x is the distance from the skin surface) was then used to calculate area-specific rate of O2 uptake (.MO2/A) according to the Fick equation, .MO2/A=Dbeta(deltaPO2/deltax), where A is the cross-sectional area of the boundary layer, D is the diffusion coefficient and beta is the capacitance coefficient for O2 in water. The accuracy of the method was assessed by comparing it with the rubber dam method. After correcting for differences in body mass, the two methods gave essentially identical results. According to the boundary layer method, the mean (+/-95 % CI) rate of O2 uptake across the skin of newly hatched rainbow trout at 10 degrees C is 3.13+/-0.18 microg O2 cm-2h-1 (N=265). The corresponding value obtained using the rubber dam method was 3. 36+/-0.35 microg O2 cm-2 h-1 (N=27). The advantages of the boundary layer method are that it can be used with smaller, more delicate larvae and that variables, such as flow rate, that can affect the efficiency of gas exchange can be regulated more precisely. The boundary layer method also permits examination of regional differences in exchange efficiency, although in still water such differences do not appear to be significant in trout larvae. The mean steepness of the PO2 gradient in the boundary layer and, hence, the mean rate of area-specific O2 uptake were essentially the same (P>0.05) at all seven locations tested in this study. The boundary layer method can potentially be used to study the transcutaneous flux, not only of O2 but of virtually any diffusible substance that can be measured with microelectrodes and that is consumed (e.g. Na+, Ca2+) or excreted (e.g. CO2, NH3) by fish larvae or other small organisms.