Mentor/s
Dr. Ashley Stoehr
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
This study uses a new metric of temperature deviation, which was previously developed to assess tissue temperature changes in small mammals and birds, to better classify open-ocean fishes along a continuum of ectothermy to endothermy. The body temperature of an ectotherm changes with the surrounding water, while endotherms maintain a somewhat consistent body temperature regardless of the surroundings. Most open-ocean fishes experience water temperature fluctuations when searching for food at different latitudes and depths, but only a few species are considered “endothermic.” Endothermic fishes cannot maintain as constant a body temperature as large, endothermic mammals, and while the temperature of some tissues varies little with water temperature, the temperature of other tissues increases or decreases with water temperature. For these reasons, it may be insufficient to analyze the capacity for endothermy in fishes dichtomously (i.e., yes or no). This study calculated and compared a new metric of temperature deviation for the swimming muscles of endothermic and ectothemic fishes, as well as the water temperature during vertical movement (i.e, “true ectotherm”). Preliminary results suggest that there is a relationship between the heterothermic index and the known capacity for endothermy in the swimming muscles.
College and Major available
Biology
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-28-2023 12:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-28-2023 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Prize Categories
Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Best Visuals
Measuring the Capacity for Endothermy in Open-Ocean Fishes
Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons
This study uses a new metric of temperature deviation, which was previously developed to assess tissue temperature changes in small mammals and birds, to better classify open-ocean fishes along a continuum of ectothermy to endothermy. The body temperature of an ectotherm changes with the surrounding water, while endotherms maintain a somewhat consistent body temperature regardless of the surroundings. Most open-ocean fishes experience water temperature fluctuations when searching for food at different latitudes and depths, but only a few species are considered “endothermic.” Endothermic fishes cannot maintain as constant a body temperature as large, endothermic mammals, and while the temperature of some tissues varies little with water temperature, the temperature of other tissues increases or decreases with water temperature. For these reasons, it may be insufficient to analyze the capacity for endothermy in fishes dichtomously (i.e., yes or no). This study calculated and compared a new metric of temperature deviation for the swimming muscles of endothermic and ectothemic fishes, as well as the water temperature during vertical movement (i.e, “true ectotherm”). Preliminary results suggest that there is a relationship between the heterothermic index and the known capacity for endothermy in the swimming muscles.
Students' Information
James Moore: biology major, Honors student, class of 2025.