Consistent changes in muscle metabolism underlie dive performance across multiple lineages of diving ducks

Diving animals must sustain high activity with limited O₂ stores to successfully capture prey. Studies suggest that increasing body O₂ stores supports breath-hold diving, but less is known about metabolic specializations that underlie underwater locomotion. We measured maximal activities of 10 key enzymes in locomotory muscles (gastrocnemius, pectoralis) to identify biochemical changes associated with diving in pathways of oxidative and substrate-level phosphorylation and compared them across three groups of ducks — the strong diving sea ducks (Mergini, 8 spp.), the mid-tier diving pochards (Aythyini, 3 spp.), and the non-diving dabblers (Anatini, 5 spp.). Relative to dabblers, both diving groups had increased activities of succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidase, and sea ducks further showed increases in citrate synthase (CS) and hydroxyacyl-coA dehydrogenase (HOAD). Both diving groups had relative decreases in capacity for anaerobic metabolism (lower ratio of lactate dehydrogenase to CS), with sea ducks also showing a greater capacity for oxidative phosphorylation and lipid oxidation (lower ratio of pyruvate kinase to CS, higher ratio of HOAD to hexokinase). These data suggest that the locomotory muscles of diving ducks are specialized for sustaining high rates of aerobic metabolism, emphasizing the importance of body O₂ stores for dive performance in these species.