US-Brazil Cooperative Research: Gut Microclimate in Neotropical Armored Catfish (Loricariidae)

这一美洲项目奖将支持美国-巴西的一个研究项目，该项目由Towson大学的Jay A.Nelson博士和圣保罗联邦大学的Francisco Tadeu Rantin博士共同完成。该项目的目标是调查斑点叉尾的消化系统和肠道环境。这些研究人员将使用大型线虫来检验这一无效假设，即与其他脊椎动物一样，线虫胃肠道的管腔是厌氧的。他们将调查只呼吸水或同时呼吸水和空气的动物的胃肠道环境和血液排出的情况。与大多数高度厌氧的动物的肠道不同，斑点叉叉鱼利用它们的消化道从被水吸入的空气中吸收氧气，因此肠道可能是一个有氧的环境。我们目前对草食性鱼类的消化生理学的了解很差，鉴于有证据表明线虫具有奇怪而独特的消化生理学，我们扩大这方面的知识是很重要的。在这项工作中，纳尔逊将把他的呼吸生理学知识与兰丁研究大型线虫生理学的能力结合起来。这项研究的结果应该有助于理解这些鱼的呼吸和消化，它们构成了一个高度多样化和具有生态重要性的草食性鱼类群体，几乎没有得到科学关注。

This Americas Program award will support a US-Brazil research project between Dr. Jay A. Nelson, Towson University, and Dr. Francisco Tadeu Rantin, Federal University of Sao Paulo. The goal of the project is to investigate the digestive system and gut environment of the loricariid catfish. These researchers will use large loricariids to test the null hypothesis that the lumen of the loricariid gastrointestinal tract is anaerobic as in other vertebrates. They will investigate the environment of the gastrointestinal tract and the blood draining it in animals that are breathing either water only or both water and air.Unlike the guts of most animals, which are highly anaerobic, loricariid catfishes use their digestive tracts to uptake oxygen from air gulped in with water, so that the gut may be an aerobic environment. Our current understanding of the digestive physiology of herbivorous fishes is poor, and given the evidence that loricariids have a strange and unique digestive physiology, it is important that we broaden this knowledge. In this work Nelson will combine his knowledge of respiratory physiology with Rantin's capabilities for studying the physiology of large loricariids. The results of this study should aid in understanding the respiration and digestion of these fish, which constitute a highly diverse and ecologically important group of herbivorous fishes that has received little scientific attention.