Seawater carbonate chemistry and activity levels of a coral reef fish

• Main Authors: Sundin, Josefin, Amcoff, Mirjam, Mateos-González, Fernando, Raby, Graham D, Jutfelt, Fredrik, Clark, Timothy D
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2017
• Subjects: Acanthochromis polyacanthus; Alkalinity; total; standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Behaviour; Bicarbonate ion; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Chordata; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Duration; Experiment duration; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Identification; Laboratory experiment; Length; Nekton; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Pelagos; pH; Registration number of species; Salinity; Single species; South Pacific; Species; Swim distance; Swimming duration; Temperature; water; Pacific; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.893534; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.893534

Levels of dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) projected to occur in the world's oceans in the near future have been reported to increase swimming activity and impair predator recognition in coral reef fishes. These behavioral alterations would be expected to have dramatic effects on survival and community dynamics in marine ecosystems in the future. To investigate the universality and replicability of these observations, we used juvenile spiny chromis damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) to examine the effects of long-term CO2 exposure on routine activity and the behavioral response to the chemical cues of a predator (Cephalopholis urodeta). Commencing at ~3–20 days post-hatch, juvenile damselfish were exposed to present-day CO2 levels (~420 μatm) or to levels forecasted for the year 2100 (~1000 μatm) for 3 months of their development. Thereafter, we assessed routine activity before and after injections of seawater (sham injection, control) or seawater-containing predator chemical cues. There was no effect of CO2 treatment on routine activity levels before or after the injections. All fish decreased their swimming activity following the predator cue injection but not following the sham injection, regardless of CO2 treatment. Our results corroborate findings from a growing number of studies reporting limited or no behavioral responses of fishes to elevated CO2.