Meeting Abstract
We evaluated the recruitment of red and white muscles of four Narragansett Bay fish species – summer flounder, winter flounder, black sea bass and scup – at 18, 20, 22 and 24° C to determine how temperatures affect muscle mechanics. We expect fish species including, black sea bass, scup, winter and summer flounder will recruit more red muscle when exposed to higher temperature waters in order to complete simple movements. Sedentary species like the flounder will likely demonstrate less of a physiological adjustment than the more active pelagic species. We placed electromyography electrodes into red and white muscle at 50 (mid body) and 75% (caudal region) of the fish’s total length. In winter flounder, all muscles showed higher magnitude of contraction at higher temperatures, while duration was not affected. However, in summer flounder, red caudal had higher magnitude at higher temperatures, while mid white had the reversed pattern. White caudal was the only muscle with decreased duration at higher temperatures. In scup, all muscles but red caudal showed changes in magnitude of contraction with temperature, however magnitude was higher for white muscles at lower temperatures while the opposite was true for red muscles. In black sea bass, all muscles but mid white had higher magnitude of contraction at the higher temperature and red caudal also had higher duration of contraction at higher temperatures. These results confirm that red muscles were recruited more at higher temperatures. This seems to indicate that at higher temperatures most fish are increasing recruitment of red muscle and oxygen demands are expected to be higher. Studying the muscle function in light of a changing environment of fish species will help determine fitness of the populations in the coming years and how local stakeholders must also adapt in order to achieve long-term fishery sustainability.
