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INTRODUCTION
Gas exchange is the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the
animal’s body fluids and the environment it thrives in. As an animal breathes, it takes
oxygen from the environment which is used for ATP production, also called anaerobic
respiration. Carbon dioxide production and released back into the environment is also
associated with this. Virtually all animals depend on such aerobic metabolism to satisfy
and fats, two of the major nutritional components of animals, results in the production
of carbon dioxide and water as waste products. Carbon dioxide is removed via
exhalation from the lungs or ventilatory structures in various animals. The exchange
of gases between animals and their environments occurs by the process of simple
diffusion. For many animals, small aquatic animals in particular, the exchange of gases
across the general body surface is sufficient to meet the demands of the animal.
oxygen is taken in by the body and sent into its cells which is later then used for energy
structures. Ectotherms such as fish are animals that depend on the environment for
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body temperature. All aquatic ectotherms adapt to their environment in different ways.
They can regulate their body temperature through adapting their eating habits or
physical endurance. In terms of cost to the animal, though, this is not necessarily so.
maintain some sort of appropriate body temperature for at least part of the day.
Specifically, the study aimed to estimate and compare the rate of carbon dioxide in
small aquatic animals such as fish by titrimetric method; and to relate carbon dioxide
Three set ups of two 250 ml beakers, with varying temperatures at 23C, 28C,
33C, were labelled with A and B were filled with distilled water treated with 5 drops of
phenolphthalein. In each set-up, a medium sized Shobon, a hybrid of koi and goldfish,
was added in beaker A while beaker B served as the control wherein it did not contain
any animal. After 30 minutes upon starting the test, the fish in beaker A of each set-
up was removed. The carbon dioxide content of the water in each beakers were
determined. Using a pipette, 0.04% NaOH was slowly added into the beakers. Enough
NaOH was added until the water turns pink for one minute after swirling. The volume
of NaOH used in the titration was recorded and multiplied to 10 since each ml of 0.04%
NaOH solution combines with 10 μM of carbon dioxide. The weight of the fish used for
each set-up were weighed using an analytical balance. The respiration rate for each
𝜇𝑀 𝐶𝑂2 𝑜𝑓 𝐴 − 𝜇𝑀 𝐶𝑂2 𝑜𝑓 𝐵
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝜇𝑀 𝐶𝑂2)/𝑔/ℎ𝑟 =
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑔)𝑥 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (ℎ𝑟)
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Ectotherms such as fish are animals dependent upon external sources for heat
gain. Little of their body heat is obtained as a consequence of their overall metabolism.
In the exercise, the metabolic rate was determined based on the respiratory gas
exchange, which is the amount of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide produced in
metabolic rate. Water has a carbon dioxide solubility 20-30 times greater than that of
the air (Kay 1998). It can dissolve in water 200 times more easily than oxygen. Thus,
aquatic animals such as the Shobon fish have very little problem in excreting the
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Respiration rate (μM CO2)/g/hr
15
15.63
10
0 2.91
-5
-5.25
-10
23 28 33
Temperature C
Figure 1. Trend of the respiratory rate against temperature of the Shobon fish
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Metabolic rate is the measurement of the sum total of all metabolism occurring
in an animal at a given time. This can be measured in different ways such as oxygen
such as fish, the standard metabolic rate varies with temperature. In the exercise, the
metabolic rate or respiratory rate of the Shobon fish was determined using the carbon
respiration wherein the highest was at 33C and the least at 23C. Water temperature
is one of the most important environmental variables influencing the metabolic rates
of ectotherms (Breth 1971). In its natural environment, fishes may experience intense
water temperature variations on a daily basis and can fluctuate by up to 10-15C daily.
Warm water temperature increases the metabolism of the fish and therefore
respiration rates are high. In all animals, a higher rate of physical activity oxidizes more
calories. In fish, whose metabolic rate is affected by the oxygen content of the water,
the oxygen effect interacts with the activity effect. As the rate of activity increases, the
ectotherms. Heat lose by evaporation is not possible and heat exchange by radiation
get the energy to sustain life by oxidizing reduced carbon compounds in food,
rate of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production. The standard metabolic
rate is the metabolic benchmark for fish. In poikilotherms, this is translated into
biochemical events and in turn into metabolism. The metabolic rates of fish roughly
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double with every 10C increase in temperature, except at the extreme ends of their
temperature tolerance. At 23C, which is relatively lower than the room temperature,
had the least metabolic rate. As the temperature decreases, the respiratory rate
to 28C and 33C, the metabolic rate increases also. The higher metabolic rates in
carbon dioxide. For every milliliter of oxygen consumed, 0.9 milliliters of carbon dioxide
is produced. In low temperature, the fish consumed less oxygen therefore less carbon
Metabolic rate does not only vary as temperature fluctuates. It can vary
and body size ratio in animals. As a general rule, the greater the mass of an organism,
the higher is the organism’s metabolic rate. Animals with high metabolic rates require
more efficient delivery of oxygen to cells. However, metabolic rate is higher per unit of
body mass in small animals compared to larger ones. The surface rule states that the
metabolic rate per unit weight decreases with increasing size, but is constant per unit
surface (Bertalanffy 1951). This is because the higher metabolic rate of small animals
needs a greater delivery of oxygen to tissues around the body. In the exercise, data
obtained could not support such correlation since no set-ups in varying fish weight
were subjected to just one temperature. Rather each set-up with different fish weights
were subjected to different temperature, thus, fish weight alone could not be the sole
basis for the varying metabolic rates. In fish, a major area of metabolic heat loss is via
the gills. This also means that some regions are kept at a different temperature from
other regions which is advantageous to the fish because the elevated temperature
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dependent upon the internal heat production and derives its heat gain primarily from
increase the metabolic heat production. The possible errors in the exercise would be
the lack of acclimatization of the fish to the varying temperatures. The fishes used
were directly subjected to the temperature without allowing them to acclimatize. The
fish’s health was not also ensured to be at its best, thus its metabolic rate could be
affected due to the inability or weaker response to the stimulus. Another factor could
heat production per ml of carbon dioxide produced in grams calories are 5.05, 6.67
and 5.57 respectively. The metabolic rate of the animals in terms of heat production
depending on the type of animal. Ectotherms are animals dependent upon external
sources for heat gain, however, in aquatic ectotherms large bodies of water provide a
means that metabolic heat generated by the organism may be dissipated into the
between metabolic rate and body size. The first type, surface-dependent, metabolic
consumption decreases per unit weight, but is constant per unit surface, expressed as
the % power of weight. Representatives of this type are fish, crustaceans, mussels
and Ascaris (Bertalanffy and Muller 1943; Weinland 1919; Kruger 1940). The second
representative of this type is an insect larvae (Bertalanffy and Muller 1943). The third
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type, intermediate between weight proportionality to proportionality to surface.
Metabolic rates decrease with respect to weight, but increase with respect to surface.
A representative of this type is pond snails (Bertalanffy and Muller 1943). Also, the
smaller animals have a greater surface area to volume ratio, so more heat is lost.
CONCLUSION
rate. During gas exchange, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production have
carbon dioxide production and heat production. Using the titrimetric method to
determine the carbon dioxide production rate, the Shobon fish illustrated that an
is also a factor that influences the metabolic rate of fish wherein an increase in
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REFERENCES
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zg2xxnb/revision/1.
Bertalanffy, L.V. 1951. Metabolic Types and Growth Types. The American Naturalist.
85: 821.
Biol. 69.