The purposes of this investigation were to measure the relative
levels of enzymatic and respiratory metabolism of some vertically
migrating mesopelagic fishes collected from the ocean waters off
Oregon and to modify and adapt an enzyme method for use as a measure
of metabolic activity at sea with a minimum of equipment. A
knowledge of the quantitative measure of the respiratory and metabolic
rates of these organisms could be usefully applied to several problems of interest; oxygen minimum layers, vertical migration, and
vertical distribution.
Ten species of fishes were studied with regard to their respiratory potential as measured by succinic dehydrogenase activity. Oxygen
consumption for two species was measured at various temperatures
for comparative purposes.
The metabolic rates calculated from the enzyme data fell within
the limits of the standard metabolic rate - temperature relationships
compiled from the data of several authors for fishes of the same size
from various environments. The fish from the greatest depths had
low metabolic rates comparable to those reported for some Antarctic
and Arctic species. Metabolic rates of species of mesopelagic fish
differed significantly and declined with the general depth and temperature
at which the species was found. / Graduation date: 1965
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28198 |
| Date | 19 March 1965 |
| Creators | Karinen, John Franklin |
| Contributors | Curl, Herbert Jr |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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