Effects of elevated CO2 on predator avoidance behaviour by reef fishes is not altered by experimental test water

• Other Authors: Philip Laing Munday (hasAssociationWith), Philip Laing Munday (hasCollector)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: James Cook University
• Subjects: ocean acidification; carbon dioxide; antipredator behaviour; larval fish; ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies; Lizard Island; Queensland; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/effects-elevated-co2-test-water/673201; https://researchdata.jcu.edu.au//published/de9bdfa6937470426c154fe2493cb9b7; https://doi.org/10.4225/28/577DEDA8D0126

Experiments tested antipredator behaviour in larval clownfish Amphiprion percula and ambon damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis, two species that have been used in previous high CO2 experiments. Specifically we tested if: 1) using control or high CO2 water in a two channel flume influenced the response of larval clownfish to predator odour, and 2) using control or high CO2 water in the test arena influenced the escape response of larval damselfish to a startle stimulus. Finally, 3) because the effects of high CO2 on fish behaviour appear to be caused by altered function of the GABA-A neurotransmitter we tested if antipredator behaviours were restored in clownfish treated with a GABA antagonist (gabazine) in high CO2 water. The full methodology and units for the kinematic variables are included in the open access article. This dataset is available as a spreadsheet in MS Excel (.xlsx) and Open Document formats (.ods) Raw data from experiments comparing the effects of elevated CO2 on predator avoidance behaviour by reef fishes in different experimental test water