Could resistance to lactate accumulation contribute to the better swimming performance of Brycon amazonicus when compared to Colossoma macropomum?

BACKGROUND: In the wild, matrinchã (Brycon amazonicus) and tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) rely strongly on their swimming capacity to perform feeding, migration and reproductive activities. Sustained swimming speed in fishes is performed almost exclusively by aerobic red muscles. The white muscle has high contraction power, but fatigue quickly, being used mainly in sprints and bursts, with a maximum duration of few seconds. The Ucrit test, an incremental velocity procedure, is mainly a measure of the aerobic capacity of a fish, but with a high participation of anaerobic metabolism close to the velocity of fatigue. Our previous study has indicated a high swimming performance of matrinchã (Ucrit) after hypoxia exposure, despite increased levels of lactate in plasma. In contrast, tambaqui with high lactate levels in plasma presented very low swimming performance. Therefore, we aimed to study the resistance of matrinchã and tambaqui to the increased lactate levels in muscle over an incremental velocity test (Ucrit). As a secondary aim, we analyzed the differences in anaerobic metabolism in response to environmental hypoxia, which could also support the better swimming performance of matrinchã, compared to tambaqui. METHODS: We measured, over incremented velocities in both species, the metabolic rate (the oxygen consumption by the fish; MO(2)), and the concentrations of lactate and nitrites and nitrates (NOx) in muscles. NOx was measured as an indicator of nitric oxide and its possible role in improving cardiorespiratory capacity in these fishes, which could postpone the use of anaerobic metabolism and lactate production during the swimming test. Also, we submitted fishes until fatigue and hypoxia (0.5 mg L(−1)) and measured, in addition to the previous parameters, lactate dehydrogenase activity (LDH; the enzyme responsible for lactate production), since that swimming performance could also be explained by the anaerobic capacity of producing ATP. RESULTS: Matrinchã exhibited a better swimming performance and higher oxygen consumption rates. Lactate levels were higher in matrinchã only at the moment of fatigue. Under hypoxia, LDH activity increased in the white muscle only in tambaqui, but averages were always higher in matrinchã. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that matrinchã is more resistant than tambaqui regarding lactate accumulation in muscle at the Ucrit test, but it is not clear how much it contributes to postpone fatigue. The higher metabolic rate possibly allows the accumulated lactate to be used as aerobic fuel by the matrinchã, improving swimming performance. More studies are needed regarding matrinchã’s ability to oxidize lactate, the effects of exercise on muscle acidification, and the hydrodynamics of these species, to clarify why matrinchã is a better swimmer than tambaqui.