Meeting Abstract
Investigating the differences in muscle physiology between lab acclimated fish and those taken from the wild can help us understand the impacts of thermally acclimated fish in a laboratory. Additionally, these comparisons allow us to evaluate the inferences made on fish in the wild by laboratory studies. To address these topics we asked the question, does muscle physiology in wild cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus) differ from cunner in the lab? We hypothesized that 20°C acclimated cunner would produce greater power output and muscle kinetics compared to 20°C natural cunner. Lab acclimated cunner (n=5) were collected from Long Island Sound and held for 4 weeks at 20°C. Similarly, the natural cunner were caught when ocean water reached 20°C. To address our hypothesis, we examined the effects on power output and muscle kinetics with cunner tested at 20, 10, and 5°C. The 20°C acclimated cunner had a greater twitch force per PCSA, as well as power output at 5, 10, and 20°C. Additionally, throughout each testing temperature, power output for lab acclimated cunner was greater at every frequency. However, the time to maximum twitch contraction and relaxation were relatively similar between acclimated and natural cunner at every testing temperature. The difference in power output and force PCSA could indicate that muscle in thermally acclimated fish underwent a change to produce greater results. Furthermore, this data could suggest that lab acclimated fish are not accurate comparisons to those in the wild.
