Abstract
Blood flow (as percentage of cardiac output) in fasted channel catfish acclimated to 21°C was directed primarily to white muscle (72%) followed by head kidney (5·7%), red muscle (5·5%), trunk kidney (3·1%), liver (2·2%), swim bladder (1·4%) and skin (1·1%). The stomach, intestines, pyloric caeca, gonads, brain, abdominal fat and spleen contained <0·5% of blood flow. There was considerable interfish variation among blood flow distribution to visceral organs with substantial spatial heterogeneity of blood flow to white muscle. The spatial heterogeneity of flow to muscle prevented accurate estimation of total flow to this tissue based on the microsphere deposition of a few sub‐samples. Instead, a novel approach, based on the whole animal counting of the eviscerated carcass was used to measure blood flow to white muscle. The scaling relationships for tissue mass in catfish (63–1873 g) followed the allometric equation (aWb) and tended to exhibit negative allometry, with organ weight decreasing in proportion to body weight. The b values for most tissues ranged between 0·83 and 1·0. The relative mass of the brain showed the greatest decline and with a b value of 0·32. The results, together with previous data on cardiac output, permitted calculation of organ blood flow rates in channel catfish. © 1999 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
Published Version
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