Stress in Fish and Researchers: climate change research.

JUAN MANUEL MOLINA

Bremen

Conferencia; ZMT Annual Conference (ZAC1); 2020

ZMT

Today, whether climate change and pollution represent a threat for marine species in the future is not under discussion, but to what extent will the organisms be affected is what needs to be thoroughly investigated. Given that physiological processes are the link between the environment and the individual-level responses, studies focusing on the effects of environmental drivers on the physiology of marine organisms are sorely needed. In this aspect, the study of fish responses to the stressors related to climate change and pollution is of high relevance. The anticipated assessment of the stability of fish stocks and the sustainability of fisheries is a direct area of application for such information. Extensive and semi-intensive aquaculture production is also affected by climate change, with direct impact on yields and economic solvency. At ZMT, in the Ökophysiologie / Experimentelle Aquakultur working group we will be employing a combination of traditional (respirometry) and modern (multi-biomarker) physiological tools and modeling techniques to look into this issue. The experimental fish we will use is from the family Batrachoididae, which comprises coastal bottom dwelling fish that have one of the most sluggish behaviors among fish. They have world-wide distribution, and can tolerate a wide range of temperature, salinities and oxygen concentration. The European toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus, lives associated to the sea floor and has sedentary habits, being first handedly exposed, and inevitable subject, to the particular stressors of its habitat, which makes it a potential bioindicator species. The life history traits of the toadfish makes it ideal to study the physiological effects of global warming, hypoxia and pollution. As part of an Assemble Plus funding granted to our group we will work in cooperation with CCMAR in Faro, Portugal, where this species naturally occurs. Our aim is to quantify and determine the physiological effects of increased temperature, reduced dissolved oxygen concentration and mercury pollution on the stress response of H. didactylus. We expect that the results from this investigation will contribute to the production of bioenergetic models that contains a solid mechanistical base for the prediction of climate change and contamination impacts on fishes. The potential results could be useful for the conservation of species, management of fisheries, and aquaculture in the Anthropocene.