Postprandial acid-base balance and ion regulation in freshwater and seawater-acclimated European flounder, Platichthys flesus.
The effects of feeding on both acid-base and ion exchange with the environment, and internal acid-base and ion balance, in freshwater and seawater-acclimated flounder were investigated. Following voluntary feeding on a meal of 2.5-5% body mass and subsequent gastric acid secretion, no systemic alkaline tide or respiratory compensation was observed in either group. Ammonia efflux rates more than doubled from 489 +/- 35 and 555 +/- 64 mumol kg(-1) h(-1) under control conditions to 1,228 +/- 127 and 1,300 +/- 154 mumol kg(-1) h(-1) post-feeding in freshwater and seawater-acclimated fish, respectively. Based on predictions of gastric acid secreted during digestion, we calculated net postprandial internal base gains (i.e., HCO (3) (-) secreted from gastric parietal cells into the blood) of 3.4 mmol kg(-1) in seawater and 9.1 mmol kg(-1 )in freshwater-acclimated flounder. However, net fluxes of ammonia, titratable alkalinity, Na(+) and Cl(-) indicated that branchial Cl(-)/HCO (3) (-) and Na(+)/H(+) exchange played minimal roles in counteracting these predicted base gains and cannot explain the absence of alkaline tide. Instead, intestinal Cl(-)/HCO (3) (-) exchange appears to be enhanced after feeding in both freshwater and seawater flounder. This implicates the intestine rather than the gills as a potential route of postprandial base excretion in fish, to compensate for gastric acid secretion.
Taylor
Josi R
JR
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Department of Marine Biology and Fisheries, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA. jtaylor@rsmas.miami.edu
Whittamore
Jonathan M
JM
Wilson
Rod W
RW
Grosell
Martin
M
D000064:Acclimatization / Q000502:physiology; D000136:Acid-Base Equilibrium; D000818:Animals; D001639:Bicarbonates / Q000378:metabolism; D005432:Flounder / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007474:Ion Exchange; D019518:Postprandial Period; D012623:Seawater; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance / Q000502:physiology
D001639:Bicarbonates