Physiological and behavioural aspects of exercise in fish

动物在不同的栖息地使用许多运动策略来生存。许多因素（例如，捕食者-猎物的相互作用）具有深远的生态重要性，并且在很大程度上取决于鱼的游泳能力。在过去的几十年里，大量的研究集中在确定与鱼类运动相关的生理机制（例如，能量燃料使用模式，恢复过程），并努力描述物种对耗尽性运动的反应差异。最近，研究人员已经表明，在对运动的生理反应中存在着大量的种内变异性，这种变异性几乎与物种之间的变异性一样大。然而，鱼类物种变异的根本原因尚不清楚。我的研究将集中在影响运动后恢复过程的因素（例如，温度），以及最终可能解释鱼类运动反应中种内变异性的潜在机制。我将特别研究运动后行为（即行为体温调节-追踪温度以降低代谢成本的能力）和个体发生（即发育）在鱼类运动后过程中的作用。研究人员最近提出，这些因素可能对描述这种变异性很重要。我还将评估一种独特的鱼类——鲟鱼的游泳行为和生理学。我的实验方法包括代谢物分析，行为评估和呼吸测量技术的使用。我的最终目标是更好地理解潜在的过程/机制，这些过程/机制解释了鱼类对运动的生理反应中巨大的种内差异。我提出的研究是独特的，因为它们将检查行为和运动后恢复过程之间的关系。此外，这些研究将重点关注鱼类代谢的发育和可塑性。

Animals use many locomotor strategies for survival in various habitats. Many factors (e.g., predator-prey interactions) are of profound ecological importance and depend heavily on a fish's ability to swim. Over the past few decades, a significant amount of research has focused on determining the physiological mechanisms (e.g., patterns of energy fuel use, recovery processes) associated with exercise in fish, with some effort describing species differences in the response to exhaustive exercise. More recently, researchers have shown that substantial intraspecific variability exists in the physiological response to exercise, and that this variability is almost as great as the variability noted between species. However, the underlying cause of this within species variability in fish is not well known. My research will focus on factors (e.g., temperature) that influence the post-exercise recovery process, and ultimately the underlying mechanisms that may account for the intraspecific variability in the exercise response in fish. I will specifically examine the roles of post-exercise behaviour (i.e., behavioural thermoregulation- the ability to track temperatures to reduce metabolic costs) and ontogeny (i.e., development) on the post-exercise processes in fish. Researchers have recently suggested that these factors may be important in describing the variability. I will also assess the swimming behaviour and physiology of a unique group of fish, the sturgeons. My experimental approach involves the analysis of metabolites, assessment of behaviour and utilization of respirometric techniques. My ultimate goal is to gain a better understanding of the underlying processes/mechanisms that account for the enormous intraspecific variation in the physiological response to exercise in fish. My proposed studies are unique in that they will examine the relationship between behaviour and post-exercise recovery processes. In addition, these studies will focus on the development and plasticity of metabolism in fish.