Ocean acidification increases fatty acids levels of larval fish

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Díaz-Gil, Carlos, Catalán, Ignacio Alberto, Palmer, Miquel, Faulk, Cynthia K., Fulman, Lee A.
• Other Authors: CSIC - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Royal Society (Great Britain) 2015
• Subjects: Ocean acidification; Sciaenops ocellatus; Larval fish; Fatty acids; Red drum
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/133009; https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0331; https://doi.org/10.13039/100007652

Rising levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are acidifying the oceans and producing diverse and important effects on marine ecosystems, including the production of fatty acids (FAs) by primary producers and their transfer through food webs. FAs, particularly essential FAs, are necessary for normal structure and function in animals and influence composition and trophic structure of marine food webs. To test the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on the FA composition of fish, we conducted a replicated experiment in which larvae of the marine fish red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) were reared under a climate change scenario of elevated CO levels (2100 matm) and under current control levels (400 matm). We found significantly higher whole-body levels of FAs, including nine of the 11 essential FAs, and altered relative proportions of FAs in the larvae reared under higher levels of CO. Consequences of this effect of OA could include alterations in performance and survival of fish larvae and transfer of FAs through food webs. CDG was funded by FPI‐INIA-2012, this manuscript was financed by the research project REC2 (grant#CTM2011‐23835). Contribution 1705 of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute Peer Reviewed