Elevated carbon dioxide alters neural signaling and anti-predator behaviors in ocean phase coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

Elevated levels of CO2 have been shown to disrupt numerous neurological sensory systems in marine fish. This is of concern as Pacific salmon rely heavily on an important neurosensory system for survival, the olfactory system. In this study, we investigated the effects of elevated CO2 on a salmon olf...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Williams, Chase, Gallagher, Evan, Dittman, Andrew, McElhany, Paul, Busch, Shallin, Bammler, Theo, MacDonald, James
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Western CEDAR 2018
Subjects:
Ocean acidification
Salmon
Olfaction
GABA
Behavior
Fresh Water Studies
Life Sciences
Marine Biology
Natural Resources and Conservation
Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Pacific
Online Access:https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/382
https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2817&context=ssec
Description
Summary:Elevated levels of CO2 have been shown to disrupt numerous neurological sensory systems in marine fish. This is of concern as Pacific salmon rely heavily on an important neurosensory system for survival, the olfactory system. In this study, we investigated the effects of elevated CO2 on a salmon olfactory driven behavior, as well as changes in neural signaling and gene expression within the peripheral and central olfactory system. Juvenile coho salmon were exposed to three different levels of CO2 for two weeks. These included a current CO2 level with a pH of 7.8, a medium CO2 level with a pH of 7.5, and a high CO2 level with a pH of 7.2. Our study found that juvenile coho salmon exposed to increasing levels of CO2 ceased avoiding an alarm odor compared to the controls. Furthermore, exposure to the high level of CO2 did not alter odorant induced signaling in the olfactory rosettes but did induce significant changes in signaling within the olfactory bulbs. RNA-seq analysis revealed significant changes in expression of genes involved in neuronal signaling and signal modulation within the olfactory bulbs from coho exposed to the high CO2 level compared to control coho. Our results indicate that coho salmon exposed to elevated CO2 can experience significant behavioral impairments that are potentially driven by alteration in higher-order neural signal processing within the olfactory bulbs. Supported by Washington Sea Grant, the Washington Ocean Acidification Center, and NIEHS Superfund ES-004696.

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