| Swimming for your life: locomotor effort and oxygen consumption during the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchling frenzy. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19088210 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Swimming effort and oxygen consumption of newly emerged green turtle Chelonia mydas hatchlings was measured simultaneously and continuously for the first 18 h of swimming after hatchlings entered the water. Oxygen consumption was tightly correlated to swimming effort during the first 12 h of swimming indicating that swimming is powered predominantly by aerobic metabolism. The patterns of swimming effort and oxygen consumption could be divided into three distinct phases: (1) the rapid fatigue phase from 0 to 2 h when the mean swim thrust decreased from 45 to 30 mN and oxygen consumption decreased from 33 to 18 ml h(-1); (2) the slow fatigue phase from 2 to 12 h when the mean swim thrust decreased from 30 to 22 mN and oxygen consumption decreased from 18 to 10 ml h(-1); and (3) the sustained effort phase from 12 to 18 h when mean swim thrust averaged 22 mN and oxygen consumption averaged 10 ml h(-1). The decrease in mean swim thrust was caused by a combination of a decrease in front flipper stroke rate during a power stroking bout, a decrease in mean maximum thrust during a power stroking bout and a decrease in the proportion of time spent power stroking. Hence hatchlings maximise their swimming thrust as soon as they enter the water, a time when a fast swimming speed will maximise the chance of surviving the gauntlet of predators inhabiting the shallow fringing reef before reaching the relative safety of deeper water. |
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Authors:
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David T Booth |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The Journal of experimental biology Volume: 212 ISSN: 0022-0949 ISO Abbreviation: J. Exp. Biol. Publication Date: 2009 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2008-12-17 Completed Date: 2009-03-26 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0243705 Medline TA: J Exp Biol Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 50-5 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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The University of Queensland, Physiological Ecology Group, School of Integrative Biology, Qld 4072, Australia. d.booth@uq.edu.au |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Animals, Newborn / physiology* Australia Energy Metabolism / physiology* Oxygen Consumption / physiology* Swimming / physiology* Time Factors Turtles / physiology* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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