GABAergic anxiolytic drug in water increases migration behaviour in salmon

Migration is an important life-history event in a wide range of taxa, yet many migrations are influenced by anthropogenic change. Although migration dynamics are extensively studied, the potential effects of environmental contaminants on migratory physiology are poorly understood. In this study we s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Hellström, Gustav, Klaminder, Jonatan, Finn, Fia, Persson, Lo, Alanärä, Anders, Jonsson, Micael, Fick, Jerker, Brodin, Tomas
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2016
Subjects:
Article
Atlantic salmon
Salmo salar
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5155400/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27922016
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13460
Description
Summary:Migration is an important life-history event in a wide range of taxa, yet many migrations are influenced by anthropogenic change. Although migration dynamics are extensively studied, the potential effects of environmental contaminants on migratory physiology are poorly understood. In this study we show that an anxiolytic drug in water can promote downward migratory behaviour of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in both laboratory setting and in a natural river tributary. Exposing salmon smolt to a dilute concentration of a GABAA receptor agonist (oxazepam) increased migration intensity compared with untreated smolt. These results implicate that salmon migration may be affected by human-induced changes in water chemical properties, such as acidification and pharmaceutical residues in wastewater effluent, via alterations in the GABAA receptor function.

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