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Metabolism in Animals

Submitted by ncarbone on Thu, 02/14/2019 - 22:51

It is often assumed that oxygen consumption or metabolic rate occurs independently of the amount of oxygen available. However, this is not always the case. Invertebrates will sometimes increase their oxygen consumption as a function of different oxygen amounts. For some animals oxygen consumption is positively and linearly related to oxygen levels when levels are low. However, oxygen consumption obtains a plateau once levels reach a certain amount. Speckled trout are able to acclimate to low oxygen levels when maintained in low oxygen rich water. This proves that fish are able to extract oxygen from water better than most other organisms. Anaerobic metabolism is oxygen consumption without oxygen. Some organisms like internal parasites and bivalves survive only by anaerobic metabolism. Anaerobic metabolism is often associated with burst locomotion.

 

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