Water temperature affects somatic growth, body condition and oxygen and carbon otolith isotopes of stout whiting (Sillago robusta)

Melissa Tan; Karina C Hall; Sebastian Litchfield; Curtis Champion; Matheus Carvalho de Carvalho; Benjamin Mos; Symon Dworjanyn; Brendan P Kelaher

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174058

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Water temperature affects somatic growth, body condition and oxygen and carbon otolith isotopes of stout whiting (Sillago robusta)

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Water temperature affects somatic growth, body condition and oxygen and carbon otolith isotopes of stout whiting (Sillago robusta)

Melissa Tan, Karina C Hall, Sebastian Litchfield, Curtis Champion, Matheus Carvalho de Carvalho, Benjamin Mos, Symon Dworjanyn and Brendan P Kelaher

The Science of the total environment, Vol.945, 174058

01/10/2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174058

Appears in Recent Faculty of Science and Engineering Publications

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Abstract

Climate change

Ocean warming

Fractionation

Bioelectical impedance analysis

Ocean warming will continue to affect the growth, body condition and geographic distributions of marine fishes and understanding these effects is an urgent challenge for fisheries research and management. Determining how temperature is recorded in fish otolith carbonate, provides an additional chronological tool to investigate thermal histories, preferences and patterns of movement throughout an individual's life history. The influence of three water temperature treatments (22°C, 25°C, and 28°C) on hatchery-reared juvenile stout whiting, Sillago robusta, was tested using a controlled outdoor mesocosm system. Fish were measured for change in length and weight, and body condition was determined using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Sagittal otoliths were analysed for stable oxygen (δ18Ootolith) and carbon (δ13Cotolith) isotopes via isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Whiting kept at 22°C were significantly smaller and had diminished body condition compared to fish in 25°C and 28°C, which did not significantly differ from each other. The δ18O otolith values of stout whiting demonstrated a negative temperature-dependent fractionation relationship which was similar in slope but had a different intercept to the relationships reported for inorganic aragonite and other marine fish species. The δ13C otolith values also showed a negative relationship with water temperature, and the calculated proportion of metabolic carbon M in otoliths differed between fish reared in the coolest (22°C) and warmest (28°C) temperature treatments. Overall, the results suggest that stout whiting may have reached an upper growth threshold between 25°C and 28°C, and that growth and body condition may be optimised during warmer seasons and toward the northerly regions of their distribution. Otolith oxygen thermometry shows promise as a natural tracer of thermal life history, and species-specific fractionation equations should be utilised when possible to prevent errors in temperature reconstructions of wild-caught fish.Ocean warming will continue to affect the growth, body condition and geographic distributions of marine fishes and understanding these effects is an urgent challenge for fisheries research and management. Determining how temperature is recorded in fish otolith carbonate, provides an additional chronological tool to investigate thermal histories, preferences and patterns of movement throughout an individual's life history. The influence of three water temperature treatments (22°C, 25°C, and 28°C) on hatchery-reared juvenile stout whiting, Sillago robusta, was tested using a controlled outdoor mesocosm system. Fish were measured for change in length and weight, and body condition was determined using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Sagittal otoliths were analysed for stable oxygen (δ18Ootolith) and carbon (δ13Cotolith) isotopes via isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Whiting kept at 22°C were significantly smaller and had diminished body condition compared to fish in 25°C and 28°C, which did not significantly differ from each other. The δ18O otolith values of stout whiting demonstrated a negative temperature-dependent fractionation relationship which was similar in slope but had a different intercept to the relationships reported for inorganic aragonite and other marine fish species. The δ13C otolith values also showed a negative relationship with water temperature, and the calculated proportion of metabolic carbon M in otoliths differed between fish reared in the coolest (22°C) and warmest (28°C) temperature treatments. Overall, the results suggest that stout whiting may have reached an upper growth threshold between 25°C and 28°C, and that growth and body condition may be optimised during warmer seasons and toward the northerly regions of their distribution. Otolith oxygen thermometry shows promise as a natural tracer of thermal life history, and species-specific fractionation equations should be utilised when possible to prevent errors in temperature reconstructions of wild-caught fish.

Details

Title: Water temperature affects somatic growth, body condition and oxygen and carbon otolith isotopes of stout whiting (Sillago robusta)
Creators: Melissa Tan - Southern Cross University
Karina C Hall - NSW Department of Primary Industries
Sebastian Litchfield - Southern Cross University, Faculty of Science and Engineering
Curtis Champion - NSW Department of Primary Industries
Matheus Carvalho de Carvalho - Southern Cross University, Environmental Analysis Laboratory
Benjamin Mos - University of Queensland
Symon Dworjanyn - Southern Cross University
Brendan P Kelaher - Southern Cross University
Publication Details: The Science of the total environment, Vol.945, 174058
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Grant note: This research was supported by funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC Project No. 19-030) on behalf of the Australian Government and NSW Department of Primary Industries (CONT21/363) and a postgraduate scholarship (for M. Tan) from Southern Cross University.
Identifiers: 991013203313002368
Academic Unit: Environmental Analysis Laboratory; National Marine Science Centre; Faculty of Science and Engineering
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

Water temperature affects somatic growth, body condition and oxygen and carbon otolith isotopes of stout whiting (Sillago robusta)

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