Climate change impacts on fish reproduction are mediated at multiple levels of the brain-pituitary-gonad axis

• Published in: General and comparative endocrinology Vol. 291; p. 113439
• Main Authors: Servili, Arianna, Canario, Adelino V.M., Mouchel, Olivier, Muñoz-Cueto, José Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15-05-2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biodiversity and Ecology; Climate change; Environmental control; Environmental Sciences; Fish reproduction; Gonads; Life Sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology; Neuroendocrine regulation; Temperature; Neuroendocrine regulation; Climate change; Fish reproduction; Temperature; Gonads; Environmental control; Acl
• ISSN: 0016-6480; 1095-6840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2020.113439

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•Changes in temperature, salinity, acidification and hypoxia impact reproductive behavior.•Sex differentiation is affected by temperature and thermocycles.•Environmental cues act on steroidogenesis/gametogenesis affecting gamete quality.•Global change related variations also affect spawning timing and phenology.•Transgenerational studies show examples of acclimation and adaptation.
Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have generated rapid variations in atmospheric composition which drives major climate changes. Climate change related effects include changes in physico-chemical proprieties of sea and freshwater, such as variations in water temperature, salinity, pH/pCO2 and oxygen content, which can impact fish critical physiological functions including reproduction. In this context, the main aim of the present review is to discuss how climate change related effects (variation in water temperature and salinity, increases in duration and frequency of hypoxia events, water acidification) would impact reproduction by affecting the neuroendocrine axis (brain-pituitary-gonad axis).
Variations in temperature and photoperiod regimes are known to strongly affect sex differentiation and the timing and phenology of spawning period in several fish species. Temperature mainly acts at the level of gonad by interfering with steroidogenesis, (notably on gonadal aromatase activity) and gametogenesis. Temperature is also directly involved in the quality of released gametes and embryos development. Changes in salinity or water acidification are especially associated with reduction of sperm quality and reproductive output. Hypoxia events are able to interact with gonad steroidogenesis by acting on the steroids precursor cholesterol availability or directly on aromatase action, with an impact on the quality of gametes and reproductive success. Climate change related effects on water parameters likely influence also the reproductive behavior of fish. Although the precise mechanisms underlying the regulation of these effects are not always understood, in this review we discuss different hypothesis and propose future research perspectives.