Impacts of acute hypoxia on the short-snouted seahorse metabolism and behaviour
Seahorses are one of the most unique and enigmatic animals, recognized as flagship species for several conservation issues. Unfortunately, seahorses' populations have been declining and their unique lifestyle may constrain the ability of these animals to evolve in the future climate scenarios....
Saved in:
| Published in: | The Science of the total environment Vol. 904; p. 166893 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier B.V
15-12-2023
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Seahorses are one of the most unique and enigmatic animals, recognized as flagship species for several conservation issues. Unfortunately, seahorses' populations have been declining and their unique lifestyle may constrain the ability of these animals to evolve in the future climate scenarios. They inhabit shallow coastal waters that display daily or seasonal environmental fluctuations. Yet, few studies have scrutinized the impacts of climate changes on these iconic species. Within this context, the objective of this work was to test the effects of an extreme hypoxia exposure (~27 % dissolved oxygen for approximately 7 h) on the metabolism, behaviour and food intake of the temperate seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus. Regarding metabolism, hypoxia exposure led to a significant reduction in metabolic rates and an increase in ventilation rates. Seahorses showed signs of movement lethargy under oxygen depletion. The results show that a small but extreme exposure to hypoxia is tolerable by seahorses despite inducing metabolic and behavioural changes, that may jeopardize the future development and survival of these iconic organisms.
[Display omitted]
•Due to their specific lifestyle, seahorses are sensitive organisms to environmental changes.•Metabolism, behaviour patterns and food intake of Hippocampus hippocampus were evaluated under a hypoxic event.•The extreme hypoxia caused a decrease in seahorses' metabolism and an accentuated decrease in their activity. |
|---|---|
| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0048-9697 1879-1026 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166893 |