Aerobic Energetics of Surface Swimming in the Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus

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Abstract
The surface swimming of muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) was studied by forcing individual animals to swim against a constant velocity water current, ranging from 0.2 to 0.75 m/s, in a recirculating water channel. The swimming muskrat was enclosed in a metabolic chamber to monitor oxygen consumption as a measure of the aerobic power input. The metabolic rate ( ) of swimming muskrats at a water temperature of 25 C was found to increase linearly over the range of test velocities. The computed cost of transport exhibited a curvilinear decrease with increasing velocity to a minimum of 0.75 m/s. Observations of free-swimming muskrats showed that they did not swim at the energetically most efficient velocity but at a lower mean velocity of 0.58 m/s. Departure from the expected swimming velocity was believed to be dependent on an addition of anaerobic metabolism to the aerobic metabolism and onset of fatigue at velocities above 0.6 m/s due to high drag.

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