Impacts of Long-Term Exposure to Ocean Acidification and Warming on Three-Spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Growth and Reproduction

• Published in: Fishes
• Main Authors: Devergne, Jimmy, Loizeau, Véronique, Lebigre, Christophe, Bado-Nilles, Anne, Collet, Sophie, Mouchel, Olivier, Iaria, Ugo, Le Gall, Marie-Madeleine, Madec, Lauriane, Turiès, Cyril, Servili, Arianna
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Dynamique et durabilité des écosystèmes : de la source à l’océan (DECOD), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut Agro Rennes Angers, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Stress Environnementaux et BIOsurveillance des milieux aquatiques (SEBIO), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS)-Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Université Le Havre Normandie (ULH), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-SFR Condorcet, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: asterosteus aculeatus;climate change;life cycle;sexual maturation;long-term acclimation;lipids;multi-stress; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-04315890; https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-04315890/document; https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-04315890/file/fishes-08-00523-v3.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8100523

International audience The warming and acidification of surface waters as predicted by the IPCC leads aquatic species to face major multifaceted changes in their environment. Although teleosts have efficient regulatory systems to cope with these changes, such changes clearly have the potential to impact their physiological functions. Hence, it is crucial to estimate the ability of teleost fishes to cope with multi-stresses to predict how they will deal with future environments. In this context, we investigated the joint effect of warming and acidification on three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from the juvenile stage to adulthood, focusing on parameters linked to growth, sexual maturation, and reproduction. Juvenile sticklebacks were split in 2 climate scenarios: a “Current” scenario corresponding to the current seasonal physico-chemical parameters of the water of the “Rade de Brest” in France, and a “RCP8.5” scenario with a warming of 3 °C and an acidification of 0.4 pH units. After 7 months, fish in the RCP8.5 scenario reached the same size and mass as those in the Current scenario, but they needed greater amounts of food to reach satiety. Furthermore, the mortality rate over the experiment was higher in the RCP8.5 scenario. Muscle lipid content, an indicator of energy reserves, was lower in females in the RCP8.5 scenario, suggesting an increased need for energy to maintain homeostasis and other physiological functions or a divergence in energy allocation strategy. Moreover, females exhibited lower sexual maturation and egg quality under the RCP8.5 scenario, which could have contributed to the lower fertilisation rate observed. Males were more resilient to the RCP8.5 scenario, exhibiting only a trend for lower kidney somatic index scores. Altogether, these results suggest a delay and/or an inhibition of gametogenesis and maturation in fish in warmed and acidified waters. The analysis of blood sex steroid concentrations, brain gene expression profiles, and physiological indexes did not allow us ...