Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

2006

Journal

Fishery Bulletin

Volume

104

Issue

3

First Page

323

Last Page

331

Abstract

Standard and routine metabolic rates (SMRs and RMRs, respectively) of juvenile sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) were measured over a range of body sizes (n=34) and temperatures normally associated with western Atlantic coastal nursery areas. The mean SMR Q(10) (increase in metabolic rate with temperature) was 2.9 +/- 0.2. Heart rate decreased with increasing body mass but increased with temperature at a Q(10) of 1.8-2.2. Self-paired measures of SMR and RMR were obtained for 15 individuals. Routine metabolic rate averaged 1.8 +/- 0.1 times the SMR and was not correlated with body mass. Assuming the maximum metabolic rate of sandbar sharks is 1.8-2.75 times the SMR (as is observed in other elasmobranch species), sandbar sharks are using between 34% and 100% of their metabolic scope just to sustain their routine continuous activity. This limitation may help to explain their slow individual and population growth rates, as well as the slow recoveries from overfishing of many shark stocks worldwide.

Keywords

Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks; Western North-Atlantic; Dogfish Scyliorhinus-Canicula; Tuna Thunnus-Albacares; Lesser Spotted Dogfish; Dynamic Action Sda; Large Water Tunnel; Oxygen-Consumption; Negaprion-Brevirostris; Katsuwonus-Pelamis

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