Meeting Abstract
The North American rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) display impressive thermal acclimation to cold water, which aids their ability to survive in winter. Changes in the environmental temperature can affect different physiological properties of red or slow-twitch skeletal muscle including force generation, relaxation, shortening velocity, and mechanical power. Trout and smelt show acclimation responses in these properties when exposed to cold temperatures over extended periods of time. How will these fishes respond to a warming environment that results from environmental shifts due to climate change? The goal of this study was to examine the effect of a warming environment in rainbow trout swimming performance and muscle mechanics. Maximum steady swimming speed was determined in swim tunnel studies, and contractile properties were determined in muscle physiology experiments. Thermal sensitivity, the change in physiological parameters in response to acute changes in temperature, was determined in trout muscle as well. This research will hopefully reveal how trout will respond to a warming environment due to climate change.
