Striped bass prefer the cool waters deep in Chesapeake Bay, but in the last 50 years, these places have experienced extensive deep-water hypoxia, or lack of oxygen. Researchers are wondering how the stress of low-oxygen zones combined with a common contagious disease might affect the survival of resident striped bass. Researchers Wolfgang Vogelbien and Mary Fabrizio of VIMS, Richard Brill of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and David Gauthier of ODU will study the ability of striped bass to breathe under low oxygen conditions in the laboratory and will compare that ability to wild-caught fish with and without a particular disease to determine whether infection makes fish more vulnerable to oxygen stress.
Funded by the 2010 Virginia Sea Grant Coastal & Marine Science RFP
Project detail: Wolfgang Vogelbein (VIMS), Mary Fabrizio (VIMS), Richard Brill (NOAA), and David Gauthier (ODU). Physiological impacts of hypoxia on healthy and Mycobacterium-infected striped bass (Morone saxatilis).
