On the Bright Side: Juvenile Atlantic Cod Behavior Is Impervious to Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification is the name given to describe the process by which, in response to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, more and more CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere and dissolved into the surface waters of the world’s oceans, thus lowering their pH values. Such reductions are hypothesized by many scientists to harm marine life. Citing the review paper of Briffa et al. (2012), for example, Jutfelt and Hedgärde (2015) state that “a number of reports in recent years have suggested that the behavior of coral reef fish, including their activity level, boldness, behavioral asymmetry (lateralization), and responses to olfactory and auditory cues, may be affected by ocean acidification.” Such reports have promulgated widespread concern that ocean acidification may well become a major threat to marine fishes in the not-too-distant-future; and in light of this concern, the two Swedish scientists decided to conduct a study of their own to learn more about this important topic. The subject of Jutfelt and Hedgärde’s analysis was Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), which they describe as an “ecologically and economically important species that has a history of being exposed to overfishing (Rose, 2004) and cod populations may therefore be sensitive to the effects of additional stressors such as ocean acidification.” For their analysis, the two researchers reared juvenile Atlantic cod for 30 days in control water (~500 μatm) or water with elevated CO2 levels (~1,000 μatm)...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs