Swimming metabolism

Earlier work involved restrained or resting fish, but recent techniques have been developed to study fish while swimming. They have also recently examined in vivo muscle energy metabolism in the cuttlefish, a marine invertebrate. ... 

G. J. Lurman, C. H. Bock and H.-0. Fortner, An examination of the metabolic processes underpinning critical swimming in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) using in vivo P-NMR spectroscopy. /. Exp. Biol., 2007, 210,3749-3756. 

Your basal metabolism requires approximately 46 Calories per hour (h) per 100 pounds (lb) of body mass to carry out basic functions required for life, apart from doing any kind of exercise. A person walking at 2 miles per hour on a level path requires approximately 45 Calories per hour per 100 pounds of body mass beyond basal metabolism. The same person swimming at 2 miles per hour consumes 360 Calories per hour per 100 pounds beyond basal metabolism. 

The answer lies in the attraction of bacteria to compounds that they can metabolize. Bacteria will swim toward such compounds but away from repellent substances, a response known as chemotaxis. Cells of E. coli swim toward higher concentrations of L-serine (but not of D-serine), of L-aspartate, or of D-ribose. 

The next stage is the juvenile, which precedes sexual maturation and is characterized primarily by intensive protein production, and increases in the weight and length. It is accompanied in fry by enhanced incorporation of amino acids into proteins, activity of protein synthetases and aminotransferases, and high RNA/DNA ratios (Shulman, 1974 Haines, 1973 Shatunovsky 1980 Kurant et al., 1983 Weatherley and Gill, 1987). Enhanced activity of proteinases in the alimentary canal provides substrates to support protein synthesis, while at the same time mineral metabolism intensifies to form and develop the skeleton. The mode of swimming of the fry then becomes more continuous, and the proportion of red muscle increases (Mosse and Hudson, 1977). 

The levels of metabolism of Black Sea fish in relation to their natural mobility were determined by Belokopytin (1990). First, the relationship between swimming rate and oxygen consumption in a Brett-type tunnel respirometer was determined, using horse-mackerel, pickerel, anchovy and annular bream. The relationship is described by the equation ... 

In non-Russian literature, active metabolism is denoted by Q, not Qt, and implies total metabolism during intensive swimming (Fty, 1957 Prosser, 1969 Brett, 1970 Webb, 1971 Brett and Glass, 1973 Elliott, 1976 Brea and Groves, 1979 Beamish, 1981 Duthie, 1982 Kerr, 1982). The term scope of activity , used to define Q, is rather awkward. In Russian literature, by active metabolism we mean energy consumed in locomotion (Vinberg, 1956 Ivlev, 1962 Klyashtorin, 1982). 

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