Inter- and intra-individual
variation in resting oxygen consumption in post-larvae of the giant
freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man)
A. Taylor, B. Ross, S. McCauley, J.H. Brown, F.
Huntingford-2002
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part A:
Molecular and Integrative Physiology, 132(2): 459-466
Abstract:
In a study of the factors that influence metabolic
rate in the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii,
resting oxygen consumption (ROC) was measured in 90 post-larvae ranging in
size from 0.1 to 2.8 g. As in many other animal species, ROC was strongly
negatively related to body weight. A stressful event (anaesthesia with or
without tagging) caused a sharp increase in the ROC that disappeared over a
time scale of hours. As has been demonstrated for other species of
crustaceans, ROC was highest in prawns in the pre-moult stage. Individual
differences in ROC among prawns handled in the same way and in the same
moult stage persisted over a period of hours, but not over days. It remains
unclear, therefore, whether early differences in resting metabolic rate can
explain the conspicuous differences in growth rate that are found in this
species during the first few weeks of life and that profoundly influence
subsequent life history events.
(Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham
Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK, Tel.:
+44-141-330-4346; fax: +44-141-330-6545, e-mail of A. Taylor: a.taylor@bio.gla.ac.uk)