Schmidt, Elliott, and Donelson, Jennifer M. (2024) Regional thermal variation in a coral reef fish. Conservation Physiology, 12 (1).

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Abstract

How species respond to climate change will depend on the collective response of populations. Intraspecific variation in traits, evolved through genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity, can cause thermal performance curves to vary over species’ distributions. Intraspecific variation within marine species has received relatively little attention due to the belief that marine systems lack dispersal barriers strong enough to promote locally adapted traits. Here we show that intraspecific variation is present between low- and high-latitude populations of a coral reef damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus). Co-gradient variation was observed when examining aerobic physiology across a thermal gradient that reflected mean summer temperatures of high- and low-latitude regions, as well as projected future ocean temperatures (i.e., 27, 28.5, 30, 31.5°C). While thermally sensitive, no significant differences were observed between high- and low-latitude regions when measuring immunocompetence, hematocrit, and anaerobic enzyme activity. The presence of co-gradient variation suggests that dispersal limitations in marine systems can promote local adaptive responses, however, intraspecific variation may not be ubiquitous among traits. Identifying locally adapted traits among populations remains necessary to accurately project species responses to climate change, and identify differences in adaptive potential.

Item ID:	93660
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2051-1434
Keywords:	Damselfish; intraspecific variation; latitudinal gradient; temperature; physiology; adaptation
Copyright Information:	© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Funders:	Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CE), James Cook University (JCU), Australian Society of Fish Biology
Projects and Grants:	ARC FT190100015
Research Data:	https://researchdata.jcu.edu.au/default/rdmp/record/view/7e048cd0ae0d11efb083b9e4ac874acf
Date Deposited:	20 Aug 2026 02:46
FoR Codes:	31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3104 Evolutionary biology > 310403 Biological adaptation @ 30% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310307 Population ecology @ 40% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3104 Evolutionary biology > 310405 Evolutionary ecology @ 30%
SEO Codes:	19 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL HAZARDS > 1901 Adaptation to climate change > 190199 Adaptation to climate change not elsewhere classified @ 50% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180504 Marine biodiversity @ 50%
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