DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0221283 Ocean acidification and ocean warming (OAW) are simultaneously occurring and could pose ecological challenges to marine life, particularly early life stages of fish that, although they are internal calcifiers, may have poorly developed acid-base regulation. This study assessed the effect of projected OAW on key fitness traits (growth, development and swimming ability) in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae and juveniles. Starting at 2 days post-hatch (dph), larvae were exposed to one of three levels of PCO2 (650, 1150, 1700 μatm; pH 8.0, 7.8, 7.6) at either a cold (15°C) or warm (20°C) temperature. Growth rate, development stage and critical swimming speed (Ucrit) were repeatedly measured as sea bass grew from 0.6 to ~10.0 (cold) or ~14.0 (warm) cm body length. Exposure to different levels of PCO2 had no significant effect on growth, development or Ucrit of larvae and juveniles. At the warmer temperature, larvae displayed faster growth and deeper bodies. Notochord flexion occurred at 0.8 and 1.2 cm and metamorphosis was completed at an age of ~45 and ~60 days post-hatch for sea bass in the warm and cold treatments, respectively. Swimming performance increased rapidly with larval development but better swimmers were observed in the cold treatment, reflecting a potential trade-off between fast grow and swimming ability. A comparison of the results of this and other studies on marine fish indicates that the effects of OAW on the growth, development and swimming ability of early life stages are species-specific and that generalizing the impacts of climate-driven warming or ocean acidification is not warranted.
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Publisher's official version | 22 | 1 Mo | ||
S1 Fig. Experimental design and tanks transfer from larvae to juvenile stage. | - | 1 Mo | ||
S2 Fig. Critical swimming speed (Ucrit, cm s-1) in juvenile European sea bass reared at A) cold condition (15°C; n = 73; 242 days post-hatch (dph)) and B) warm condition (20°C; n = 60; 233 dph). | - | 1 Mo | ||
S1 Table. Light intensity during larval phase. | 1 | 164 Ko | ||
S2 Table. Larval mortality (%) in the different larval rearing tanks. | 1 | 168 Ko | ||
S3 Table. Juvenile mortality in % in the different tanks. | 1 | 163 Ko | ||
S4 Table. Significance of terms for the 90% quantile regression model on the impact of water temperature and body length (BL) on the critical swimming speed (Ucrit) in ... | 1 | 169 Ko |
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