Individual Variability in Sustained Performance, Aerobic Metabolism, Oxygen Transport, and Enzyme Activity in Toads (Bufo marinus)

We measured the sustained locomotor performance, oxygen consumption during exercise, two indicators of oxygen transport capacity, the activity of an enzyme important in aerobic metabolism, and several morphological variables of 20 giant toads. Based on ANCOVA, the only variable that differed between...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Copeia 1994-12, Vol.1994 (4), p.887-896
Main Authors: Longphre, Malinda, Gatten, Robert E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibians
Animal physiology
Average linear density
Blood
Body length
Bufo marinus
Freshwater
Legs
Locomotion
Oxygen
Oxygen consumption
Toads
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Summary:We measured the sustained locomotor performance, oxygen consumption during exercise, two indicators of oxygen transport capacity, the activity of an enzyme important in aerobic metabolism, and several morphological variables of 20 giant toads. Based on ANCOVA, the only variable that differed between male and female toads was ventricle mass. Most morphological variables increased with body size, but maximal aerobic speed (lowest speed at which oxygen consumption is maximal) and maximal sustainable speed (highest speed that could be maintained for 20 min) did not. After removing the effects of sex and body size, both measures of speed, blood oxygen capacity, and citrate synthase activity in the gastrocnemius and iliofibularis varied widely among individuals. Variability in maximal aerobic speed was positively associated with differences among toads in oxygen consumption, ventricle mass, gastrocnemius citrate synthase activity, and iliofibularis mass but was negatively correlated with blood oxygen capacity. Differences among individuals in maximal sustainable speed were not explained by differences in any measured variable. Similarly, variability in oxygen consumption during sustained exercise was not explained by differences among individuals in ventricle mass, blood oxygen capacity, or muscle enzyme activity.
ISSN:0045-8511
1938-5110
DOI:10.2307/1446711