Elevated CO2 affects anxiety but not a range of other behaviours in juvenile yellowtail kingfish

Michael D Jarrold; Megan J Welch; Shannon J McMahon; Tristan McArley; Bridie J M Allan; Sue-Ann Watson; Darren M Parsons; Stephen M J Pether; Stephen Pope; Simon Nicol; Neville Smith; Neill Herbert; Philip L Munday

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104863

Elevated CO₂ affects anxiety but not a range of other behaviours in juvenile yellowtail kingfish

Mar Environ Res. 2020 May:157:104863. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104863. Epub 2019 Dec 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia.
² Leigh Marine Laboratory, The University of Auckland, Leigh, 0985, New Zealand.
³ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia; Department of Marine Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand.
⁴ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia; Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia.
⁵ Leigh Marine Laboratory, The University of Auckland, Leigh, 0985, New Zealand; National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁶ National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Northland Marine Research Centre, Station Road, Ruakaka, 0116, New Zealand.
⁷ National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁸ Insitute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT, 2617, Australia.
⁹ Oceanic Fisheries Programme, Pacific Community, CPS - B.P, D5 98848, Noumea, New Caledonia.
¹⁰ Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia. Electronic address: philip.munday@jcu.edu.au.

PMID: 32275516
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104863

Abstract

Elevated seawater CO₂ can cause a range of behavioural impairments in marine fishes. However, most studies to date have been conducted on small benthic species and very little is known about how higher oceanic CO₂ levels could affect the behaviour of large pelagic species. Here, we tested the effects of elevated CO₂, and where possible the interacting effects of high temperature, on a range of ecologically important behaviours (anxiety, routine activity, behavioural lateralization and visual acuity) in juvenile yellowtail kingfish, Seriola lalandi. Kingfish were reared from the egg stage to 25 days post-hatch in a full factorial design of ambient and elevated CO₂ (~500 and ~1000 μatm pCO₂) and temperature (21 °C and 25 °C). The effects of elevated CO₂ were trait-specific with anxiety the only behaviour significantly affected. Juvenile S. lalandi reared at elevated CO₂ spent more time in the dark zone during a standard black-white test, which is indicative of increased anxiety. Exposure to high temperature had no significant effect on any of the behaviours tested. Overall, our results suggest that juvenile S. lalandi are largely behaviourally tolerant to future ocean acidification and warming. Given the ecological and economic importance of large pelagic fish species more studies investigating the effect of future climate change are urgently needed.

Keywords: Anxiety; Behavioural lateralization; Climate change; Ocean acidification; Seriola lalandi; Temperature; Vision.

MeSH terms

Animals
Anxiety
Behavior, Animal*
Carbon Dioxide / chemistry*
Fishes / physiology*
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Oceans and Seas
Seawater / chemistry*

Substances

Carbon Dioxide