Lizard-Fish Lab Report

Based on the results I got, the smaller the animal was the lower the mean LDH activity was. Another factor that can affect the LDH levels in a species could be where the animals live. Lizard-fish, which had the highest mean LDH activity, tend to live in shallow and deep waters all around. They like to burry themselves in sand or mud on the bottom and not move until prey comes along. My group’s hypothesis was incorrect, croaker fish did not have the highest LDH activity. Lizard-fish and croaker’s have similar habitats, but lizard-fish are more commonly found in deep water which has less oxygen available. A study done on aerobic and anaerobic capacity in muscle tissue states that elasmobranchs do not move as often and have a lower aerobic capacity than teleost fishes (Dickson, 1993). Teleost fish and lizard-fish are similar, meaning lizard-fish have a higher anaerobic capacity than elasmobranchs. Elasmobranchs and teleost fish are similar to the three species used in this experiment because they use anaerobic metabolism for swimming away quickly (Dickson, 1993). White muscle in elasmobranchs uses anaerobic metabolism during bursts of energy that causes them to move quickly (Dickson, 1993), which lizard-fish do the same. …show more content…
The LDH could differ in fish that are fresh versus fish that are frozen. During the experiment test tubes were supposed to be placed in a beaker of ice, but if they were not that could affect your LDH results. When using a homogenizer, pieces of white muscle tissue can get caught in the end of it and if not cleaned after every use can contaminate the next test tube. If I did this experiment again, I would use species that have a habitat closely related to lizard-fish. Shrimp and croaker fish have similar habitats to lizard-fish, but are not always found in the same places. I would choose a species that closely resembles lizard-fish to see if the LDH activity was close to each