Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF07250
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 60(3)

Effect of incubation and rearing temperature on locomotor ability in barramundi, Lates calcarifer Bloch, 1790

Geoff R. Carey A B and Craig E. Franklin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: g.carey@uq.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 60(3) 203-210 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07250
Submitted: 27 December 2007  Accepted: 12 October 2008   Published: 27 March 2009

Abstract

Temperature profoundly influences virtually all aspects of fish biology. Barramundi, Lates calcarifer Bloch, 1790, is a catadromous fish that undergoes several migrations in its life cycle, necessitating locomotion under various thermal conditions. The present study examined the effects of varying thermal regimes on performance in juvenile L. calcarifer by determining the effects of rearing and ambient temperature on burst (Umax) and sustained (Ucrit) swimming ability. Fish were incubated at three set temperatures, 26°C (cool), 29°C (control) and 31°C (warm), from egg fertilisation until first feeding before some of the larvae were allocated to different temperatures to differentiate the effects of incubation temperature v. rearing temperature on subsequent swimming performance. Individuals incubated and reared at the cool (26°C) temperature showed significantly faster burst speeds at the 26°C test temperature than fish from any other treatment group. This indicates the ability of L. calcarifer to thermally acclimate burst swimming. However, there was no evidence that incubation temperature (as opposed to rearing temperature) affected burst or sustained swimming ability. Swimming ability was significantly affected by the test temperature, with the Umax of fish highest at the 29°C test temperature. Lower test temperatures depressed both burst and sustained swimming ability. Juvenile L. calcarifer can acclimate Umax, but swimming ability was unaffected by incubation thermal history.

Additional keywords: acclimation, fish, phenotypic plasticity, Ucrit, Umax.


Acknowledgements

This research was conducted with the approval of the University of Queensland Animal Ethics Committee (ZOO/ENT/262/03/URG) and was funded in part by an Australian Research Council linkage grant to C. E. Franklin. We thank Mike Rimmer from QDPI for the supply of the fertilised eggs and Brian Stumer for the raceway design and construction. Thank you to four anonymous referees for their constructive comments, which greatly improved the manuscript.


References

Batty, R. S. , Blaxter, J. H. S. , and Fretwell, K. (1993). Effect of temperature on the escape responses of larval herring, Clupea harengus. Marine Biology (Berlin) 115, 523–528.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Beamish F. W. H. (1978). Swimming capacity, locomotion. In ‘Fish Physiology. Vol. VII’. (Eds W. S. Hoar and D. J. Randall.) pp. 101–187. (Academic Press: New York.)

Bennett, A. F. (1990). Thermal dependence of locomotor capacity. The American Journal of Physiology 259, R253–R258.
|  CAS | PubMed | Gould S. J. (1977). ‘Ontogeny and Phylogeny.’ (Harvard University Press: Cambridge.)

Hammill, E. , Wilson, R. S. , and Johnston, I. A. (2004). Sustained swimming performance and muscle structure are altered by thermal acclimation in male mosquitofish. Journal of Thermal Biology 29, 251–257.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Houghton J. T., Ding Y., Griggs D. J., Noguer M. P., van der Linden J., and Xiaosu D. (2001). Climate change: the scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the third assessment report of the IPCC. In ‘Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Jain, K. E. , Hamilton, J. C. , and Farrell, A. P. (1997). Use of a ramped velocity test to measure critical swimming speed in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 117A, 441–444.
|  CAS | Johnston I. A., and Dunn J. F. (1987). Temperature acclimation and metabolism in ectotherms with particular reference to teleost fish. In ‘Temperature and Animal Cells. Vol. XXXXI’. (Eds K. Bowler and B. J. Fuller.) pp. 67–93. (Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology: Cambridge.)

Johnston, I. A. , and Temple, G. K. (2002). Thermal plasticity of skeletal muscle phenotype in ectothermic vertebrates and its significance for locomotory behaviour. The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 2305–2322.
| PubMed | Prosser C. L. (1991). ‘Environmental and Metabolic Animal Physiology: Comparative Animal Physiology and Ecology of Ectotherms. 4th edn.’ (Wiley-Leiss: New York.)

Russell, D. J. , and Garrett, R. N. (1985). Early life history of barramundi, Lates calcarifer (Bloch), in north-eastern Queensland. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36, 191–201.
Weihs D. (1975). Some hydrodynamical aspects of fish schooling. In ‘Swimming and Flying in Nature’. (Eds T. Wu, C. J. Brokaw and C. Brennen.) pp. 703–718. (Plenum Press: New York.)

Wilson, R. S. , and Franklin, C. E. (2002). Testing the beneficial acclimation hypothesis. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17, 66–70.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Wilson R. S., Franklin C. E., Davison W., and Kraft P. (2001). Stenotherms at sub-zero temperatures: thermal dependence of swimming performance in Antarctic fish. Journal of Comparative Physiology B-Biochemical Systemic and Environmental Physiology 171, 263–269.