Scientific Reports (Apr 2021)

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

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

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88306-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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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.