Infected Shrimp on YouTube Treadmill

This story and its associated video, and the story of its rise to internet stardom through YouTube, make it all seem kinda silly. But biologist David Scholnick is doing important work.

Worldwide animals are at an increased risk of opportunistic pathogens. Elevations in temperature and increased areas of low oxygen, suggest that pathogen exposure of lower vertebrates and marine invertebrates are escalating.

The central hypothesis underlying my research is that infectious disease can compromise the respiratory systems of lower vertebrates and invertebrates and thereby limit the ability of animals to sustain and recover from normal activities.

Here's Scholnick at LiveScience:

"As far as I know this is the first time that shrimp have been exercised on a treadmill and it was amazing to see how well they performed," Scholnick told LiveScience. "Healthy shrimp ran and swam at treadmill speeds of up to 20 meters per minute [66 feet per minute] for hours with little indication of fatigue."

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Sick shrimp, however, had reduced aerobic performance.

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"These studies will give us a better idea of how marine animals can perform in their native habitat when faced with increasing pathogens and immunological challenges."

I may have to give the good professor a visit. More later.