Abstract: To assess the effects of PFOS pollution on burst swimming performance and metabolic recovery of fish, juvenile Spinibarbus sinensis were exposed to different PFOS concentrations (0, 0.32, 0.8, 2 and 5 mg/L) for 28d. There after, the burst swimming speed (U_burst), relative U_burst (rU_burst), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and metabolic recovery after exhaustive swimming of the fish were measured. The results showed that PFOS had a profound effect on the U_burst and rU_burst of fish (P<0.05). TheU_burst and rU_burst were reduced by 17.4% and 10.8%, respectively, upon exposure to 5 mg/L PFOS. A possible non-monotonic dose response was found in rU_burst to PFOS. Moreover, PFOS significantly increased RMR (P<0.05), but did not have a marked effect on maximum metabolic rate (MMR), metabolic scope (MS), factorial metabolic scope (F-MS) and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) (P>0.05). The results indicated that PFOS had more dramatical effect on RMR than MMR of the experimental fish. Presumably, PFOS negatively impact survival-related activities such as capturing prey, avoiding predators, hunting for suitable habitats without significant ecotoxicological effects on metabolic recovery associated with anaerobic metabolism.