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 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 Articles by EDDY, F. B.

Journal of Experimental Biology 58,281-293 (1973)
Published by Company of Biologists 1973

Oxygen Dissociation Curves of the Blood of the Tench, Tinca Tinca

F. B. EDDY ¹

¹ Research Unit for Comparative Animal Respiration, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UG; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, Lancaster

1. Oxygen dissociation curves of tenth (Tinca tinca) blood were constructed for fish which had been acclimated to 5, 13 or 20°C for at least 3 weeks.

2. Compared to the blood of an active fish such as the rainbow trout tenth blood has a high affinity for oxygen; at 13°C and a P_COCO2 of 2-3 mmHg the blood was half saturated with oxygen at a P_OO2 of 4 mmHg.

3. Increasing temperature, increasing P_COCO2 and increasing hydrogen ion concentration decreased the oxygen affinity of the blood.

4. At low temperatures the blood had an elevated pH value compared to blood at high temperatures. This is discussed in terms of the temperature dependence of ionization constants, in particular that of water.

5. The Bohr effect and the factors influencing the loading and unloading tensions of oxygen in tenth blood are discussed. The role of the blood in respiration and some properties of fish haemoglobins are also discussed.