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The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 1787-1794 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Gills are needed for ionoregulation before they are needed for O₂ uptake in developing zebrafish, Danio rerio

Peter Rombough^*

Department of Zoology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada R7A 6A9

^* e-mail: rombough{at}brandonu.ca

Accepted 28 March 2002

A variation on the classic ablation method was used to determine whether O₂ uptake or ionoregulation is the first to shift from the skin to the gills in developing zebrafish, Danio rerio. Zebrafish larvae, ranging in age from 3 to 21 days postfertilization, were prevented from ventilating their gills and forced to rely on cutaneous processes by exposing them to one of two anaesthetics (tricaine methanesulphonate or phenoxyethanol) or by embedding their gills in agar. They were then placed in solutions designed to compensate selectively for impaired O₂ uptake (42% O₂), impaired ionoregulatory capacity (50% physiological saline) or impairment of both functions (42% O₂+50% physiological saline). Survival under these conditions was compared with that in normoxic (21% O₂) fresh water. Neither hyperoxia nor 50% physiological saline had any significant effect on the survival of newly hatched larvae (3 days postfertilization), suggesting that at this stage cutaneous exchange was sufficient to satisfy both ionoregulatory and respiratory requirements. At 7 days postfertilization, the skin still appeared capable of satisfying the O₂ requirements of larvae but not their ionoregulatory requirements. Physiological saline significantly improved survival at 7 days postfertilization; hyperoxia did not. At 14 days postfertilization, both hyperoxia and 50% saline significantly improved survival, indicating that at this stage gills were required for O₂ uptake as well as for ionoregulation. At 21 days postfertilization, only hyperoxia significantly improved survival. By this stage, larvae apparently are so dependent on gills for O₂ uptake that they suffocate before the effects of ionoregulatory impairment become apparent. Thus, it would appear that in zebrafish it is the ionoregulatory capacity of the skin not its ability to take up O₂ that first becomes limiting. This raises the possibility that ionoregulatory pressures may play a more important role in gill development than is generally appreciated.

Key words: fish, zebrafish, Danio rerio, gill, development, ontogeny, respiration, ionoregulation, oxygen, natural selection, evolution

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