Abstract
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1.
The respiratory behaviour and patterns of oxygen consumption of three Nile species have been investigated.
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2.
Tilapia nilotica showed a typical pattern of oxygen consumption with an ambient region, adaptive plateau and lethal region (Fig. 2).
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3.
Specimens of Polypterus senegalus and Clarias lazera (body weights 20–30 and 30–45 g respectively) showed patterns of consumption comparable to that of Tilapia (Fig. 3a and 4a). In larger specimens of the two species the adaptive plateau was either insignificant or completely absent.
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4.
Specimens of Polypterus and Clarias (20–30 g and 30–45 g respectively) could survive in waters saturated with oxygen (7.4 mg/l) but their tolerance to lower oxygen concentrations was limited. Larger specimens of Polypterus and Clarias failed to survive in oxygen saturated waters.
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5.
The tolerance of Tilapia nilotica to extremely low oxygen concentration is an adaptation of a tropical and completely aquatic species. Polypterus and Clarias resort to their compensatory mechanisms only when the aquatic respiratory surface fails to satisfy their oxygen requirements.
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Abdel Magid, A.M., Babiker, M.M. Oxygen consumption and respiratory behaviour of three Nile fishes. Hydrobiologia 46, 359–367 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028279
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00028279