Physiological and Behavioural Aspects of Swimming in Sturgeon

迁徙、繁殖和捕食者-猎物的相互作用在很大程度上依赖于鱼的游泳能力。游泳效率和表现与物种的生理、形态和行为以及动物面临的环境挑战(例如，温度变化、速度变化)有关。我的研究计划的重点是了解各种非生物和生物因素对鲟鱼这一“原始鱼类”游泳能力和能量的影响。利用鲟鱼作为模型的理由是多方面的，包括：(I)生物学，因为它处于鲨鱼和硬骨鱼之间的中间进化位置；(2)它们处理急性和慢性应激源的出色能力；(3)商业，因为它们的肉和鱼子酱非常珍贵；(4)保护，因为许多鲟鱼种群被认为由于过度捕捞和栖息地退化/入侵而极度濒危。我们最近的发现表明，鲟鱼具有独特的形态和行为属性，这些属性会影响它们的游泳模式(例如，站立)和表现(例如，游泳的时间长度)。我的长期目标是解决行为、形态和生理对鲟鱼游泳代谢成本的相互影响。这里的短期目标集中在短吻鲟鱼在不同速度和温度下的运输成本、游泳效率和代谢燃料使用模式(即是否使用碳水化合物、脂肪或蛋白质)。此外，我将研究重复游泳挑战的代谢成本，以及光照水平对鲟鱼游泳成绩的重要性。拟议中的实验使用泳槽技术，旨在测试与原始鱼类游泳相关的新陈代谢成本的新假设。我的研究项目是独创的，因为许多游泳研究都集中在高性能物种上，如鲑鱼和鲑鱼。相比之下，鲟鱼是行动缓慢的底食性鱼类，但需要更多的信息来更好地了解影响这些原始鱼类游泳的因素。这些知识将为了解脊椎动物的运动进化提供宝贵的见解。在全球意义上，我的研究既有基础的(例如，运动生理学)，也有应用的(例如，全球变暖问题、迁徙成本、种群战略)。迁徙障碍，如水坝和改道，可能会阻碍或阻碍鲟鱼的迁徙和繁殖。这些障碍，再加上气候变化，也会影响水温和水流。因此，我的工作将有助于确定这些古老鱼类应对人类活动和全球气候变化的生理极限。

Migration, reproduction, and predator-prey interactions depend heavily on a fish's ability to swim. Swimming efficiency and performance is related to a species' physiology, morphology and behaviour, and the environmental challenges the animal faces (e.g., temperature changes, velocity changes). The focus of my research program is to understand the influence of various abiotic and biotic factors on the swimming capacity and energetics of the sturgeon, a "primitive fish." The rationales for utilizing the sturgeon as a model are many-fold, including: (i) biological, because of its intermediate evolutionary position between sharks and teleosts; (2) their excellent capacity to deal with acute and chronic stressors; (3) commercial, owing to their highly-prized meat and caviar; (4) conservation, as many populations of sturgeon are considered to be critically endangered due to overharvesting and habitat degradation/encroachment. Our recent findings show that sturgeon possess unique morphological and behavioural attributes that affect their swimming patterns (e.g., station-holding) and performance (e.g., length of time swimming). My long-term objective is to address the interplay of behaviour, morphology and physiology on the metabolic costs of swimming in sturgeon. The short-term goals here focus on the costs of transport, swimming efficiency, and metabolic fuel use patterns (i.e., whether they use carbohydrates, lipids or proteins) at different speeds and temperatures in shortnose sturgeon. In addition, I will examine the metabolic costs of repeat swimming challenges and the importance of light levels on swimming performance in sturgeon. The proposed experiments, using swim flume technology, are designed to test novel hypotheses with regard to metabolic costs associated with swimming in a primitive fish. My research program is original in that many swimming studies focus on high-performance species, such as salmon and trout. In contrast, sturgeons are slow-moving, bottom-feeding fishes, but more information is needed to better understand the factors that affect swimming in these primitive fishes. Such knowledge would provide invaluable insight into how locomotion evolved in vertebrates. In the global sense, my research has both basic (e.g., exercise physiology) and applied (e.g., global warming issues, migration costs, stocking strategies) importance. Obstacles to migration, such as dams and water diversions, can block or impede sturgeon migration and reproduction. Such obstacles, combined with climate change, can also affect water temperatures and flows. Thus, my work will help to define the physiological limits of these ancient fish in response to human activities and global climate change.