Relationship of the metabolic rate of excised gill tissue to body size in two species of sunfish

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Abstract
The respiration rate of excised gill tissue from Lepomis macrochirus and Lepomis gibbosus was lowest in small fish and increased with body size to a stable maximum in larger fish. It is suggested that this relationship is due to size-associated changes in development of intrinsic muscles of the gills which compensates for the reduced surface-to-volume ratio of the gill tissue in larger fish.