Hyperoxia disproportionally benefits the aerobic performance of large fish at elevated temperature.

Abstract

Increasing evidence shows that larger fish are more vulnerable to acute warming than smaller individuals of the same species. This size-dependency of thermal tolerance has been ascribed to differences in aerobic performance, largely owing to a decline in oxygen supply relative to demand. To shed light on these ideas, we examined metabolic allometry in 130 rainbow trout ranging from 12 to 358 g under control conditions (17°C) and in response to acute heating (to 25°C), with and without supplemental oxygen (100% versus 150% air saturation). Under normoxia, high temperature caused an average 17% reduction in aerobic scope compared with 17°C. Aerobic performance disproportionally deteriorated in bigger fish as the scaling exponent (b) for aerobic scope declined from b=0.87 at 17°C to b=0.74 at 25°C. Hyperoxia increased maximum metabolic rate and aerobic scope at both temperatures and disproportionally benefited larger fish at 25°C as the scaling exponent for aerobic scope was reestablished to the same level as at 17°C (b=0.86). This suggests that hyperoxia may provide metabolic refuge for larger individuals, allowing them to sustain aerobic activities when facing acute warming. Notably, the elevated aerobic capacity afforded by hyperoxia did not appear to improve thermal resilience, as mortality in 25°C hyperoxia (13.8%, n=4) was similar to that in normoxia (12.1%, n=4), although we caution that this topic warrants more targeted research. We highlight the need for mechanistic investigations of the oxygen transport system to determine the consequences of differential metabolic scaling across temperature in a climate warming context.