Oxygen consumption by largemouth bass under constant and fluctuating thermal regimes

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Abstract
The metabolic rates of five largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were measured in flow-through respirometers under constant warm (30 °C), constant cool (15 °C), and diel cycles of warm and cool (20 h at 15 °C, 4 h at 30 °C) conditions. Metabolic rate for each individual did not differ significantly when tested under a diel temperature cycle or under constant conditions at that temperature. The metabolic rates were also similar to those predicted for standard metabolic rate from an earlier study. These data are interpreted in light of energetic modeling and vertical migration studies to predict that bass under predictably fluctuating temperature regimes react metabolically similar to bass acclimated to constant conditions at that temperature, and models constructed on data from laboratory-acclimated fish would not be substantially in error when used for fish under variable thermal conditions.