A novel oxyconforming response in the freshwater fish Galaxias maculatus.

ABSTRACT

How fish oxygen consumption is modulated by external PO(2) has long been a matter of interest, yet is an experimentally complicated question to answer. In this study closed and semi-closed respirometry were used to evaluate the oxygen consumption rate of the scaleless galaxiid fish, inanga (Galaxias maculatus) as a function of decreasing external PO(2). Both respirometry techniques showed that as environmental oxygen levels declined, oxygen consumption rates also decreased. At no point did inanga regulate oxygen consumption. This is strong evidence that inanga is an oxyconformer. Partitioned respirometry experiments showed that skin plays an important role in oxygen uptake in this fish species, and cutaneous oxygen uptake may have an important role in shaping the oxygen consumption response to hypoxia.