Moving from lab to field to assess cardiorespiratory and metabolic contaminant effects in fish

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Cardiorespiratory and metabolic toxicity in fish has emerged not only as an effect common to a surprisingly broad range of contaminants, but is also one of the most sensitive effects. Both the Weber and Janz NSERC Discovery, Strategic and Engage research programs have a major focus on examining sub-lethal effects of environmental toxicants. Methods employed by Weber and Janz to non-lethally measure swimming ability, metabolism, cardiovascular function and liver/gonad size require additional equipment in the form of 1) a swim tunnel in the size suitable to assess swimming and active metabolic rate in adult small-bodied fish or juveniles of larger fish species such as that found downstream of industrial sites in Canada, 2) a respirometer capable of accurately measuring basal metabolism and 3) a field deployable ultrasound with intermediate resolution for cardiovascular function and liver/gonad size assessment in similar-sized fish. All of these methods are non-lethal, thus offering the advantage of repeated sampling of the same individuals to reduce experimental variability, reducing animal sample size and negating the need for lethal sampling of fish from low productivity or endangered systems. Applicability of these techniques is wide, spanning from examining effects of petroleum contaminants, metal mining and uranium effluents as has already been examined by Weber and Janz, but also to effects of municipal sewage, coal mining, hydroelectric installations and thermal pollution or global warming. We aim to increase fundamental understanding of these processes by developing and refining novel and innovative methods to evaluate swimming, respiratory, metabolic and cardiovascular function as well as organ size in normal fish and fish exposed to toxic substances, but with the specific goal to take these methods from the laboratory to the field.