title: Aerobic swimming performance of juvenile largemouth bronze gudgeon (Coreius guichenoti) in the Yangtze River.
abstract: Largemouth bronze gudgeon (Coreius guichenoti), a fish species once abundant in the Yangtze River, has been rapidly declining in recent years. One important factor, among many, is the interruption of the free-flowing rivers by dams. To obtain data that can be applied to the design of an effective fishway for C. guichenoti and other species in the fish community, a laboratory study of juvenile C. guichenoti's swimming ability and energetics was conducted in a flume-type respirometer equipped with a high-speed video camera system to record swimming behavior. The critical swimming speed (Ucrit ), standard metabolic rate (SMR), and maximum metabolic rate (MO2,max ) were determined during steady swimming at four water temperatures (10, 15, 20, and 25°C). A power function accurately describes the relationship between oxygen consumption rate (MO2 ) and swimming speed (U) at the four temperatures. The Ucrit , SMR, MO2,max , and metabolic scope increased with increasing temperature. The relationship between cost of transport (COT) and U was characteristically inverse bell-shaped, with minimum COT at Uopt = 4.5-5.0 body lengths per second (bl sec(-1)). This investigation provides data on the swimming ability of C. guichenoti that will add to the basic science required for fishway design.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Eco-environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education, China Three Gorges University, Hubei Yichang, China.
authors.forename: Zhiying
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Yingping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003530:Cyprinidae / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D045483:Rivers; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature