Physiological and Biomechanical Mechanisms Underlying Transgenerational Responses of Schooling Fish to Ocean Acidification

Forage fishes sustain most fisheries and ecosystems worldwide, and their survival relies on a collective behavior, schooling, that may be vulnerable to ocean acidification; however, we lack an understanding of the consequences of acidification on schooling behavior.

Without an adequate quantification of the consequences of ocean acidification on the efficiency and maintenance of schooling, we are likely to overlook an important bottleneck for the survival of most fish species under climate change.

This project remedies this gap by testing the effect of ocean acidification on cohesive behavior and swimming performance during schooling in an important forage fish, the sand smelt Atherina presbyter.

I will quantify the potential for acclimation to acidification or negative carry-over effects in adults and embryos, acutely and when the parental generation is also exposed to these conditions.

I will investigate the following aims: 1) quantifying changes in skeletal morphology and density, 2) linking these changes to potential shifts in collective behavior, kinematics and energetics, 3) establishing if acclimation (within and across generations) via morphological, physiological, behavioral and locomotor adjustments is achievable.

Results from the proposed research have the potential to profoundly transform our prediction of future shifts in ecosystems, as schooling behavior is crucial for the survival of forage species that support entire marine ecosystems.