Behavioural responses to simulated bird attacks in marine three-spined sticklebacks after exposure to high CO2 levels

• The rising partial pressure of CO2 (pCO(2)) in oceanic water, termed ocean acidification, is an impending threat to marine life and has previously been reported to affect several aspects of fish behaviour. We evaluated the behavioural response to a simulated avian predator attack and lateralisation in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) after 10 and 20 days of exposure to present day pCO(2) (400atm) or elevated pCO(2) (1000atm). We show that elevated pCO(2) lead to reduced behavioural lateralisation. However, no major differences in the sheltering response after an overhead avian attack were observed; fish from both treatments exhibited similar and strong responses. Compared with fish exposed to high pCO(2), the control fish took longer time to freeze (i.e. stop moving) after attack at Day 20 but not Day 10. The freezing duration was significantly reduced between Day 10 and Day 20 in elevated pCO(2), whereas no such reduction was observed in the control-group. However, no significant differences between treatment groups were detected at Day 20. These results demonstrate that behaviour is indeed altered by high CO2 levels, although the general responses to avian predation stimuli remain similar to those of unexposed fish, indicating that some predator avoidance behaviours of three-spined sticklebacks are robust to environmental disturbance.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Zoologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Zoology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

carbon dioxide

gasterosteidae

global change

lateralisation

ocean acidification

predator avoidance

ocean acidification

elevated co2

gasterosteus-aculeatus

animal

behavior

detour behavior

climate-change

reef fishes

predator

lateralization

carbon

Fisheries

Marine & Freshwater Biology

Oceanography

iences

v368

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