Data from: CO2-induced ocean acidification does not affect individual or group behaviour in a temperate damselfish ...

• Main Authors: Kwan, Garfield Tsz, Hamilton, Trevor James, Tresguerres, Martin
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2017
• Subjects: Anxiety; upwelling; GABA; kelp; Chromis punctipinnis; Califonia fish; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2m353; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.2m353

Open ocean surface CO2 levels are projected to reach approximately 800 µatm, and ocean pH to decrease by approximately 0.3 units by the year 2100 due to anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the subsequent process of ocean acidification (OA). When exposed to these CO2/pH values, several fish species display abnormal behaviour in laboratory tests, an effect proposed to be linked to altered neuronal GABAA­ receptor function. Juvenile blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis) are social fish that regularly experience CO2/pH fluctuations through kelp forest diurnal primary production and upwelling events, so we hypothesized that they might be resilient to OA. Blacksmiths were exposed to control conditions (pH ∼ 7.92; pCO2 ∼ 540 µatm), constant acidification (pH ∼ 7.71; pCO2 ∼ 921 µatm) and oscillating acidification (pH ∼ 7.91, pCO2 ∼ 560 µatm (day), pH ∼ 7.70, pCO2 ∼ 955 µatm (night)), and caught and tested in two seasons of the year when the ocean temperature was different: winter (16.5 ± 0.1°C) and summer (23.1 ± 0.1°C). ... : Kwan et al.,Dryad_data_FinalDue to anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the subsequent process of ocean acidification (OA), open ocean surface CO2 levels are projected to more than double to ~1,000 μatm, and pH to decrease by ~0.3 units by the year 2100. When exposed to these CO2/pH values, several fish species display abnormal behaviour in laboratory tests, an effect proposed to be linked to altered neuronal GABAA receptor function. This study examined the effects of constant and oscillating OA-like conditions on individual and group behaviour of juvenile blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis), a social fish that regularly experiences CO2/pH fluctuations through kelp forest diurnal primary production and upwelling events. Blacksmiths were exposed to three treatments: control (pH ~7.92; pCO2 ~540 μatm); constant acidification (pH ~7.72; pCO2 ~920 μatm); and oscillating acidification (pH ~7.92, pCO2 ~560 μatm (day), pH ~7.75, pCO2 ~955 μatm (night)). After seven and eleven days, respectively, blacksmiths were ...