Basal oxygen consumption, ventilatory frequency, and heart rate during the protracted spawning run of the Southern Hemisphere lamprey Geotria australis

Abstract

Basal oxygen consumption, ventilatory frequency, and heart rate were recorded at four different times during the unusually protracted 15–16-month spawning run of the Southern Hemisphere lamprey Geotria australis. At 15°C, the mean basal oxygen consumption of G. australis caught immediately after they had left the sea and embarked on the spawning run (45 μl · g-1 · h-1) was less than in young adults about to commence their marine feeding phase (64 μl · g-1 · h-1), but greater than in large ammocoetes (26.5 μl · g-1 · h-1). Basal oxygen consumption fell progressively during the spawning-run of to 33 μl · g-1 · h-1 after 5 months and 25 μl · g-1 · h-1 after 10 months, before rising to 35 μl · g-1 · h-1 after 15 months when the animals were approaching sexual maturity. The downwards trend in basal oxygen consumption contrasts with that recorded during the spawning run of Lampetra fluviatilis. Furthermore, these values for spawning-run of G. australis are far lower than those measured at any time during the upstream migration of L. fluviatilis or during the parasitic phase of landlocked Petromyzon marinus. A low and declining metabolic rate during much of the spawning run of G. australis would facilitate the conservation of energy reserves during this very long non-feeding period. Trends shown by ventilatory frequency and heart rate essentially parallel those of basal oxygen consumption. The Q10s for basal oxygen consumption, ventilatory frequency and heart rate over the temperature range 5–25°C were 1.6, 1.6, and 1.7, respectively. The trends shown by basal oxygen consumption during metamorphosis and the upstream migration did not parallel those exhibited by circulating thyroid hormones.