Intraspecific mass scaling of metabolic rates in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus)

We assessed the intraspecific mass scaling of standard metabolic rate (SMR), maximum metabolic rate (MMR), excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), and erythrocyte size in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), with body masses ranging from 4.0 to 459 g. SMR and MMR scaled with body mass with similar exponents, but neither exponent matched the expected value of 0.75 or 1, respectively. Erythrocyte size scaled with body mass with a very low exponent (0.090), suggests that while both cell number and cell size contribute to the increase in body mass, cell size plays a smaller role. The similar slopes of MMR and SMR in grass carp suggest a constant factorial aerobic scope (FAS) as the body grows. SMR was negatively correlated with FAS, indicating a tradeoff between SMR and FAS. Smaller fish recovered faster from the exhaustive exercises, and the scaling exponent of EPOC was 1.075, suggesting a nearly isometric increase in anaerobic capacity. Our results provide support for the cell size model and suggest that variations of erythrocyte size may partly contribute to the intraspecific scaling of SMR. The scaling exponent of MMR was 0.863, suggesting that the metabolism of non-athletic fish species is less reliant on muscular energy expenditure, even during strenuous exercise.