Abstract
The basic respiratory gas and acid-base conditions inside the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and blood draining the tract are largely unestablished in teleost fishes after feeding, though there have been some recent novel discoveries on freshwater rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and seawater English sole (Parophrys vetulus). The present study examined in greater detail the gas (PO2, PCO2, PNH3) and acid-base profiles (pH, [HCO3−], total [ammonia]) in the lumen of the stomach, the anterior, mid, and posterior intestine, as well as the venous drainage (subintestinal and/or hepatic portal vein) of the GIT in these two species 20 h post-feeding. Both species had high PCO2, PNH3, and total [ammonia], and low PO2 (virtual anoxia) in the lumens throughout all sections of the GIT, and high [HCO3−] in the intestine. Total [ammonia], PNH3, and [HCO3−] increased from anterior to posterior intestine in both species. P. vetulus had higher intestinal total [ammonia] and lower [HCO3−] than O. mykiss post feeding, but total [ammonia] was much higher in the stomach of O. mykiss. Despite the extreme conditions in the lumen, both arterial and venous blood showed relatively lower PCO2, total [ammonia] and higher PO2, implying limited equilibration between the two compartments. The higher [HCO3−] and lower total [ammonia] in the intestinal lumen of the freshwater O. mykiss than the seawater P. vetulus suggest the need for future comparative studies using conspecifics fed identical diets but acclimated to the two different salinities in order to understand the potential role of environmental salinity and associated osmoregulatory processes underlying these differences.