The role of blood-borne glucose in the restoration of white muscle glycogen following exhaustive exercise in the active, pelagic rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and the more sluggish, benthic winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) were examined. During recovery from exhaustive exercise, the animals were injected with a bolus of universally labelled [14C]glucose via dorsal aortic (trout) or caudal artery (flounder) catheters. The bulk of the injected label (50-70%) remained as glucose in the extracellular fluid in both species. The major metabolic fates of the injected glucose were oxidation to CO2 (6-8%) and production of lactate (6-8%), the latter indicative of continued anaerobic metabolism post-exercise. Oxidation of labelled glucose could account for up to 40% and 15% of the post-exercise MO2 in trout and flounder, respectively. Exhaustive exercise resulted in a reduction of muscle glycogen stores and accumulation of muscle lactate. Glycogen restoration in trout began 2-4h after exercise, whereas in flounder, glycogen restoration began within 2h. Despite a significant labelling of the intramuscular glucose pool, less than 1% of the infused labelled glucose was incorporated into muscle glycogen. This suggests that blood-borne glucose does not contribute significantly to the restoration of muscle glycogen following exhaustive exercise in either trout or flounder and provides further evidence against a prominent role for the Cori cycle in these species.