Warm-Blooded Fish Swim Faster And Farther Than Cold-Blooded Counterparts - New Study

A research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientist suggests that species of fish that are capable of increasing their body temperature above the temperature of the surrounding water can swim faster and farther than their counterparts. The study was conducted by scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Research biologist Jenn Caselle stated that some species possess a process called endothermy which enables them to warm their bodies. The species that possess this ability include tuna fish and sharks. These species can swim faster and farther than penguins or other marine species of fish that are not capable of increasing their body temperature.

The team used existing data along with new information that they had collected. This was done by a newly designed sensor that was attached to sharks around the world. The sensor was built by Yuuki Watanabe, the lead author of the research from the National Institute of Polar Research, Japan. The analysis of the data suggested that species that possessed endothermy swam faster and farther away with endurance. This gives these species an edge over the rest as they take advantage of the food available seasonally.

According to Caselle, there could be an ecological reason than a physiological one, as the fishes that possess endothermy put a lot more energy into their movements than the cold blooded marine life. She also goes on to add that this is beneficial for increasing the swimming speed and for migration. Though the energy spent is quite high, the benefit to be efficient hunters and to migrate long distances allows them to feed properly. It also helps in reproduction.

They found that the four shark species -- porbeagle, white shortfin mako, shortfin mako and salmon -- as well as the five species of tuna -- yellow fin, Pacific blue fin, southern blue fin, Atlantic blue fine and albafcore -- are endothermic fishes. They also discovered that the white shark is a faster swimmer than the humpback whale.

Caselle stated that the research paper contained almost every piece of electronically recorded information in the literature. They would like to be able to expand the use of sensor-captured data to other groups of fishes in order to build a dataset that they could analyse to see what different species are doing in terms of their movements and speed.

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