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Journal of Experimental Biology 109,1-20 (1984)
Published by Company of Biologists 1984

Bluefin Tuna Warm Their Viscera During Digestion

FRANCIS G. CAREY ¹, JOHN W. KANWISHER ², and E. DON STEVENS ³

¹ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, U.S.A.
² Box 53, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, U.S.A.
³ Zoology Department, Guelph University Guelph, Ontario, Canada NIG 2W1

Acoustic telemetry showed that stomach temperature from large bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, held in an impoundment, changes markedly during feeding. The stomach cools rapidly on ingesting cold food. It then warms to a maximum of 10-15 °C above water temperature over a period of 12-20 h. Temperature decreases slowly over the next 20-30 h to a final state where it remains 3-6 °C above water temperature. The viscera are thermally isolated. Conductive heat losses are reduced by an overlying gas bladder and by the thick fatty muscle of the body wall. Convective heat losses are prevented by heat exchangers in the circulation. The temperature rise can be accounted for by heat released in the hydrolytic processes of digestion and by an increase in metabolic rate. The elevated temperatures should speed digestion and allow the tuna to feed frequently when food is abundant.

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