Adaptative features of amazon fishes: Hemoglobins, hematology, intraerythrocytic phosphates and whole blood Bohr effect of Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus (Siluriformes)

1. 1. Hemoglobin, hematological parameters, intraerythrocytic phosphates and whole blood Bohr effect of Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus, from the Amazon river, were studied in three different conditions: in their natural environment, acclimated to normoxia and acclimated hypoxia conditions. 2. 2. Nine anodal hemoglobin fractions were detected on starch gel electrophoresis. No qualitative differences in the Hb electrophoretic patterns were detected in the three studied groups. 3. 3. Hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, MCV, MCHC and MCH were different among studied conditions. 4. 4. GTP was almost absent in the blood of animals in natural conditions and acclimated to hypoxia, but was present at a concentration similar to ATP in normoxic acclimated animals. 5. 5. There is a tendency for higher Hb-O2 affinity for hypoxic acclimated/acclimatized animals. © 1990