QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by EDDY, F. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by EDDY, F. B.

Journal of Experimental Biology 55,695-711 (1971)
Published by Company of Biologists 1971

Blood Gas Relationships in the Rainbow Trout Salmo Gairdneri

F. B. EDDY ¹

¹ Research Unit for Comparative Animal Respiration, The University, Bristol BS8 1UG

1. Oxygen dissociation curves were determined using blood from rainbow trout, acclimated for at least 3 weeks to temperatures of 6, 15 and 20°C. Carbon dioxide tensions in the range 0·3-7 mmHg produced both the Bohr and Root effects in the blood.

2. Increasing temperature, P_co2 and hydrogen ions, whether raised individually or together, caused a decrease in blood O₂ affinity (increased value for P₅₀).

3. Blood at low temperatures had a higher pH than blood at high temperatures. This is related to the fact that the ionization constant of water is diminished with decreasing temperature. When blood was 50% saturated and P_co2 was 1 mmHg, the pH value was 8·25 at 6°C, 7·83 at 15°C and 7·62 at 20°C.

4. The factors influencing unloading of oxygen from the blood are discussed. To release the same amount of oxygen from blood, a greater change in carbon dioxide tension is required at 6°C than at higher temperatures.

5. The Bohr effect expressed quantitatively ( log P₅₀/ pH) was -0·54 at 6°C, -0·57 at 15°C and -0·59 at 20°C. These values are similar to those for the blood of many mammals, and are within the range reported for fish, where whole blood has been used.