A Bioenergetics-Based Model for Pollutant Accumulation by Fish. Simulation of PCB and Methylmercury Residue Levels in Ottawa River Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens)

1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Norstrom ◽  
A. E. McKinnon ◽  
A. S. W. deFreitas

A pollutant accumulation model is developed which successfully predicts concentrations of PCBs and methylmercury in tissues of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from the Ottawa River, Canada. The model is based on pollutant biokinetics coupled to fish energetics. The expression for metabolic rate includes a growth dependent term for estimating the contribution to metabolism of seasonal and annual growth in each age-class. Uptake of pollutant from food is based on caloric requirements for respiration and growth coupled to concentration of pollutant in food and its assimilation efficiency from the diet. Uptake of pollutant from water is based on flow of water past the gills for respiration coupled with concentration of pollutant in water and the efficiency of its assimilation by gills. Pollutant clearance is related to body weight raised to the power of −.58, but is independent of metabolic rate. Under steady state conditions of chronic exposure, the predicted ratio of uptake to clearance is roughly constant at all weights, and the slope of a curve of log pollutant concentration in tissues vs. log body weight can be used to establish the exponent of body weight for clearance.

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 964-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang A. Jansen

Five fish species were sampled at regular intervals in Narrow Lake, central Alberta, and examined for the prevalence and intensity of infestation by glochidia larvae of Anodonta grandis simpsoniana. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) collected between January and May were infested with glochidia, whereas perch captured between June and October were free of larvae. The prevalence of infestation increased gradually from 86 to 95% between January and May, and the intensity of infestation increased from 5.7 to 49.4 glochidia per fish over the same period. Glochidia were found on most external body surfaces, including the gills. Glochidia attached preferentially to some anatomical areas, especially pectoral and pelvic fins. Furthermore, the relative importance of certain attachment sites differed significantly among sampling dates. Neither sex, size (length or weight), or age of perch significantly affected the intensity of infestation per fish. However, small (4.4–6.0 cm), 1- and 2-year-old fish carried more than 12 times the number of glochidia per gram of body weight than large (12.1–15.7 cm), 4- to 7-year-old fish. Both perch behavior and distribution and clam reproduction and distribution provide possible explanations for the observed patterns in the prevalence and intensity of infestation and in the distribution of the glochidia on the host.


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 1942-1948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Malison ◽  
Terrence B. Kayes ◽  
Bernard C. Wentworth ◽  
Clyde H. Amundson

In yellow perch (Perca flavescens) (initially 13–16 g total weight) fed to satiation (3.0–3.5% of body weight per day), estradiol-17β (E2) at 15 μg/g diet stimulated weight gain and food consumption of both sexes but did not influence food conversion efficiency (FCE), as measured by weight gain of fish per weight of food consumed. Females fed to satiation gained more weight, consumed more food, and had higher FCE than males. In perch fed a restricted ration (1.2% of body weight per day), the differences between the sexes in weight gain were reduced and due entirely to differences in FCE, and weight gain was not improved by E2. Spatial segregation or integration of the sexes had no influence on sex-related growth patterns in perch fed either the satiation or restricted ration. Carcass composition of perch treated for 84 d with E2 at 2, 20, or 50 μg/g diet did not differ from that of controls. These data indicate that (1) estrogens promote growth in yellow perch by stimulating food consumption, (2) female perch outgrow males because of both greater food consumption and higher FCE, and (3) growth differences between the sexes are not a consequence of intersexual competition for food.


2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (7) ◽  
pp. 1031-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrice Boily ◽  
Pierre Magnan

SUMMARY The objective of this study was to examine if individual variation in morphological characters is related to swimming costs in wild and domestic brook charr, and in wild yellow perch. Our results indicate that absolute swimming cost was higher in wild and domestic brook charr individuals having a stout body shape, and these individuals are therefore less efficient swimmers. These results are consistent with field observations that described relationships between individual variation in morphology and habitat use in salmonids. Further analyses indicated that standard metabolic rates were higher in individuals having a stout body shape, and that net swimming cost was not related to body shape. Accordingly, the higher swimming cost of stout individuals is probably an indirect consequence of an increase in standard metabolic rate. In wild yellow perch, absolute and net swimming costs were higher in individuals having a stout body shape and a low aspect caudal fin,and standard metabolic rate was not related to body shape. Therefore, in contrast to brook charr, individual variation in the swimming cost of yellow perch appears to be related to morphological characters that affect drag and thrust forces, which is consistent with previously published inter-specific observations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 1487-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan E. Wilson ◽  
Duane C. Gossiaux ◽  
Tomas O. Höök ◽  
John P. Berry ◽  
Peter F. Landrum ◽  
...  

During the summer of 2006, the western basin of Lake Erie experienced a bloom of the toxigenic cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa . Across 11 sites, intracellular, particulate-bound microcystin levels in the seston increased to levels that exceeded World Health Organization guidelines for drinking water exposure (1 µg toxin·L–1). In contrast, toxin concentrations in yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) muscle tissue (n = 68) declined from June to August, were negatively related to algal toxin levels, and never exceeded a conservative chronic exposure concentration estimated using proposed United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) guidelines. Microcystin concentrations in yellow perch liver exceeded US EPA chronic exposure guidelines, were on average 125 times higher than muscle toxin concentrations per unit dry weight, and varied little throughout the summer. With current guidelines, humans do not appear to be at risk when consuming the muscle tissue of Lake Erie yellow perch collected during large-scale cyanobacterial blooms. However, this study highlights the need for a better understanding of the trophic transfer of cyanobacterial toxins through aquatic food webs in diverse ecosystems with an emphasis on understanding if these compounds could accumulate sufficiently to affect human health.


1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1597-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian S. Nakashima ◽  
William C. Leggett

In situ estimates of daily ration for yellow perch (Perca flavescens) range from a high of 5.5–6.7% body weight in July to a low of 2.2–2.4% body weight in October. The seasonal pattern corresponds well to known patterns of growth. Comparison of three methods for in situ determination of daily ration levels indicated the method outlined here and the more complex method of Thorpe yield similar results. The method of Keast and Welsh and derivatives of this method which correct for digestion between sampling periods give unreliable values that are 50% below the other two and, in general, are below maintenance ration levels. Diet composition and feeding activity varied seasonally and with body size. Key words: body size relationships, diet composition, seasonality


1984 ◽  
Vol 247 (4) ◽  
pp. H495-H507 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. E. Ford

The question of the proper size denominator for metabolic indices is addressed. Metabolic rate among different species is proportional to the 3/4 power of body weight, not surface area. Muscle power also varies with the 3/4 power of weight, suggesting that metabolic rate is determined mainly by muscle power. Power-to-weight ratio, specific metabolic rate, and a number of metabolic periods, including heart rate, all vary inversely with the 1/4 power of body weight. Thus the relative times required for physiological and pathological processes in different species may be estimated from the average resting heart rate for the species. There are not many small humans among athletic record holders in events involving acceleration and hill climbing, as would be expected if they had higher power-to-weight ratios. Thus the relationship between size and metabolic rate in different species should not be applied within the single species of humans. Evidence is reviewed showing that basal metabolic rate in humans is determined mainly by lean body mass.


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