Severe hypoxia impairs lateralization in a marine teleost fish
Lucon-Xiccato, Tyrone, Nati, Julie J.H., Blasco, Felipe Rocco, Johansen, Jacob L., Steffensen, John F., and Domenici, Paolo (2014) Severe hypoxia impairs lateralization in a marine teleost fish. Journal of Experimental Biology, 217 (23). pp. 4115-4118.
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Abstract
In intertidal environments, the recurring hypoxic condition at low tide is one of the main factors affecting fish behaviour, causing broad effects on ecological interactions. We assessed the effects of hypoxia on lateralization (e.g. the tendency to turn left or right), a behaviour related to brain functional asymmetry, which is thought to play a key role in several life history aspects of fish. Using staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus), a benthic fish that typically inhabits the intertidal zone, we found that hypoxia affects behavioural lateralization at the population level. On average, staghorn sculpins showed a distinct preference for right turns under normoxic conditions (>90% oxygen saturation), but an equal probability of turning right or left after exposure to hypoxia for 2 h (20% oxygen saturation). The specific turning preference observed in the staghorn sculpin control population is likely to have an adaptive value, for example in predator–prey interactions by enhancing attack success or survival from predatory attacks. Therefore the alteration of lateralization expressed by staghorn sculpins under hypoxic conditions may have far-reaching implications for species ecology and trophic interactions. Moreover, our work raises the need to study this effect in other species, in which a hypoxia-driven disruption of lateralization could affect a wider range of behaviours, such as social interactions and schooling.
Item ID: | 37142 |
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Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
ISSN: | 1477-9145 |
Keywords: | hypoxia, lateralization, detour test, staghorn sculpin |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jan 2015 07:32 |
FoR Codes: | 06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060205 Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl Marine Ichthyology) @ 100% |
SEO Codes: | 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960808 Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 100% |
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