Q9 - Metabolic Rate Scaling During Flounder Development

Theoretical A Real exam question - full text reproduced under IBO's CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

Size-scaling metabolism is of general importance in biology, i.e. relating metabolic processes to body mass. In a study, the metabolic rate of the fish Japanese Flounder was measured during its early life stages (Fig.). Ontogenetic changes in rate of respiration (VO2, squares, left Y-axis) and mass-specific rate of respiration (VO2/M, circles, right Y-axis) with increase in body mass M. Four early life stages (I-IV) from hatching were measured.

Figure 1. Figure 1.

Using the information and data, determine which of the statements are true or which are false.

A. Just after hatching, respiration increases without any increase in M

B. For a given unit of body mass, the rate of respiration seems to increase with the age of fish

C. The general equation for the lower curve in the figure is VO2=aMb (a: scaling parameter; b: scaling exponent)

D. In the log-log plot there is a continuous linear increase in VO2 over 4 orders of magnitude of body mass

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Question reproduced from IBO 2015, Theoretical Exam A, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 - attributed to the International Biology Olympiad. Open the full exam PDF · Community solutions (unofficial)