Effect of Exhaustive Exercise on the Swimming Capability and Metabolism of Juvenile Siberian Sturgeon

AbstractThis study investigated the effect of exhaustive exercise on the swimming performance of Siberian Sturgeon Acipenser baeriand on the time required for recovery. Critical swimming speed (Ucrit), maximum metabolic rate (MMR), speed coefficient (c), and excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) were measured on three groups of juvenile sturgeon by stepped velocity tests at 20°C in a fish respirometer. After a recovery period of 1 h (group 1), 1 d (group 2), or 1 week (group 3), the four parameters were determined a second time and the results compared. The Ucritof the sturgeon was 3.26 ± 0.11 body lengths per second (mean ± SE). After a 1 h recovery period, Ucritwas 78% of its initial value and complete recovery required slightly more than 1 d. Recovery of MMR followed the same pattern. The speed exponent (c) was approximately 1.0, indicating that the Siberian Sturgeon is an efficient swimmer; swimming efficiency decreased after exhaustive exercise and the effect appeared to last for at least 1 week. Exhaustive exercise strongly hindered anaerobic swimming in Siberian Sturgeon for more than an hour.Received April 23, 2014; accepted January 6, 2015