ABSTRACT
Physiological energetics, which is the main thrust of this chapter, includes the study of rates of energy expenditure by individual fish, losses and gains of energy in the body, and transformations and mobilizations of energy "pools" within the fish. This chapter is devoted to certain aspects of the subject of bioenergetics, an immense subject encompassing levels of complexity from the cellular to the ecosystem. It includes growth, which is inextricably linked to energetics. The consumption of oxygen by a fish is usually measured by confining the animal in a chamber through which water slowly flows. The chapter reviews the work involving copper as the "pollutant" because there is probably more known about the effects of this on energy metabolism in fish than any other chemical. The effects of cadmium on carbohydrate metabolism are complicated by the fact that this element causes damage to the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
