Cardiorespiratory pattern of rest-associated apnea in a Weddell seal: a case study at an ice hole in Antarctica

Cardiorespiratory pattern of rest-associated apnea in a Weddell seal: a case study at an ice hole in Antarctica

Seals are known to be periodic breathers with eupneic and apneic phases at rest. We video-recorded a resting Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) that appeared head up from an ice hole in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. From the video recorded, the duration of each eupneic and apneic phase was extrac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar biology Vol. 35; no. 6; pp. 969 - 972
Main Authors: Fuse, Yuji K., Sakamoto, Kentaro Q., Sato, Katsufumi, Habara, Yoshiaki
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-06-2012
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aquatic mammals
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Case studies
Ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Heart beat
Heart rate
Life Sciences
Mammalia
Marine biology
Marine mammals
Microbiology
Oceanography
Particular ecosystems
Plant Sciences
Respiration
Seals
Short Note
Synecology
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Zoology
Antarctica
Heart rate
Apnea
Respiration
Weddell seal
Carnivora
Hole
Leptonychotes weddellii
Ice
Case study
Vertebrata
Rest
Mammalia
Polar region
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Summary:Seals are known to be periodic breathers with eupneic and apneic phases at rest. We video-recorded a resting Weddell seal ( Leptonychotes weddellii ) that appeared head up from an ice hole in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. From the video recorded, the duration of each eupneic and apneic phase was extracted, and heart rate in apneic phase was obtained by counting ripples of the sea surface around the neck of a seal. The results indicated that the distribution of instantaneous heart rate was bimodal. In addition, the higher the apneic heart rate, the shorter the apneic duration as well as the combination of apneic duration and successive eupneic duration (A–E duration). From these analyses, we characterized the periodic breathing of a resting Weddell seal.
ISSN:0722-4060
1432-2056
DOI:10.1007/s00300-011-1140-9