title: Correlations of metabolic rate and body acceleration in three species of coastal sharks under contrasting temperature regimes.
abstract: The ability to produce estimates of the metabolic rate of free-ranging animals is fundamental to the study of their ecology. However, measuring the energy expenditure of animals in the field has proved difficult, especially for aquatic taxa. Accelerometry presents a means of translating metabolic rates measured in the laboratory to individuals studied in the field, pending appropriate laboratory calibrations. Such calibrations have only been performed on a few fish species to date, and only one where the effects of temperature were accounted for. Here, we present calibrations between activity, measured as overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA), and metabolic rate, measured through respirometry, for nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) and blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus). Calibrations were made at a range of volitional swimming speeds and experimental temperatures. Linear mixed models were used to determine a predictive equation for metabolic rate based on measured ODBA values, with the optimal model using ODBA in combination with activity state and temperature to predict metabolic rate in lemon and nurse sharks, and ODBA and temperature to predict metabolic rate in blacktip sharks. This study lays the groundwork for calculating the metabolic rate of these species in the wild using acceleration data.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Ecology and Physiology Program, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA k.lear@murdoch.edu.au.
authors.forename: Karissa O
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2648-8564
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Lear
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Ecology and Physiology Program, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Whitney
authors.affiliation: Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies and Hull International Fisheries Institute, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK.
authors.forename: Lauran R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Brewster
authors.affiliation: Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA.
authors.forename: Jack J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hueter
authors.affiliation: Centre for Fish and Fisheries Research, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
authors.forename: Adrian C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gleiss
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D061725:Accelerometry; D000818:Animals; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012119:Respiration; D012754:Sharks / Q000502:physiology*; D013550:Swimming; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Acceleration data logger; Bioenergetics; Elasmobranch; Field metabolic rate; Respirometry