Long lasting effects of early temperature exposure on the swimming performance and skeleton development of metamorphosing Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) larvae

Chara Kourkouta,Nikos Mitrizakis,George Koumoundouros,Nikos Papandroulakis,Alice Printzi,George Geladakis

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88306-4

Chara Kourkouta, Nikos Mitrizakis + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88306-4

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Abstract

Temperatures experienced during early ontogeny significantly influence fish phenotypes, with clear consequences for the wild and reared stocks. We examined the effect of temperature (17, 20, or 23 °C) during the short embryonic and yolk-sac larval period, on the swimming performance and skeleton of metamorphosing Gilthead seabream larvae. In the following ontogenetic period, all fish were subjected to common temperature (20 °C). The critical swimming speed of metamorphosing larvae was significantly decreased from 9.7 ± 0.6 TL/s (total length per second) at 17 °C developmental temperature (DT) to 8.7 ± 0.6 and 8.8 ± 0.7 TL/s at 20 and 23 °C DT respectively (p < 0.05). Swimming performance was significantly correlated with fish body shape (p < 0.05). Compared with the rest groups, fish of 17 °C DT presented a slender body shape, longer caudal peduncle, terminal mouth and ventrally transposed pectoral fins. Moreover, DT significantly affected the relative depth of heart ventricle (VD/TL,p < 0.05), which was comparatively increased at 17 °C DT. Finally, the incidence of caudal-fin abnormalities significantly decreased (p < 0.05) with the increase of DT. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for the significant effect of DT during the short embryonic and yolk-sac larval period on the swimming performance of the later stages.

Highlights

Temperatures experienced during early ontogeny significantly influence fish phenotypes, with clear consequences for the wild and reared stocks
In the present study we examined the effect of developmental temperature on the swimming performance of Gilthead seabream metamorphosing larvae
Fish initially reared at 17 °C developmental temperature (DT) achieved significantly higher swimming speed (9.7 ± 0.6 total length (TL) s-1, mean ± SD) than those reared at 20 (8.7 ± 0.6 TL s-1) and 23 °C DT (8.8 ± 0.7 TL s-1) (Fig. 2D)

Summary

Introduction

Temperatures experienced during early ontogeny significantly influence fish phenotypes, with clear consequences for the wild and reared stocks. The incidence of caudal-fin abnormalities significantly decreased (p < 0.05) with the increase of DT To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for the significant effect of DT during the short embryonic and yolk-sac larval period on the swimming performance of the later stages. Existing literature suggests that Gilthead seabream is highly responsive to developmental temperature during the embryonic and larval stages (within a range of 16–22 °C), with significant modifications of the juvenile phenotype[22,31,37,38] These modifications include fast myotomal muscle fibres[37], skeletal a bnormalities[31], body shape[38], stress and immune r esponse[22]

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