Inter- and intra-individual variation in resting oxygen consumption in post-larvae of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man).
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.
Taylor
Alan
A
Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK. a.taylor@bio.gla.ac.uk
Ross
Ben
B
McCauley
Shona
S
Brown
Janet H
JH
Huntingford
Felicity
F
D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D001824:Body Constitution; D007814:Larva; D018978:Molting; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D033541:Palaemonidae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors