To exam whether the temperature experienced by fishes at early developmental stages can influence their phenotype at subsequent stages, the model species used, European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax was subjected to water temperatures of 15 or 20°C during the half-epiboly stage until the metamorphosis. Meristic and morphometric characters at three different stages, well after the end of the thermal treatments, were explored. Body shape and most of the meristic characters were significantly affected by the environmental temperature during their early life stages. Fish body shape at 15°C tended to be more slender than at 20°C. The dorsal spines and soft rays, the pectoral lepidotrichia and caudal dermatotrichia were significantly affected. Phenotypic differences due to the two thermal regimes are discussed in terms of their functional meaning during the transition from the planktonic to the littoral niche.
Although zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a highly studied organism on many fields of research, many aspects of its basic biology still elude the scientific community. Its response to temperatureespecially developmental one -has been very scarcely studied and this is an important lack of knowledge since the species is considered quite eurythermal in nature. In the present study, zebrafish was subjected to four different developmental temperatures (22, 25, 28 and 31°C) from the half-epiboly stage until after metamorphosis in order to examine whether the temperature can influence the juvenile's phenotype. Morphometric and meristic characters were explored. Body shape and almost all of the meristic characters studied were significantly affected by the temperature applied during the first stages of development. Most meristic characters of the study, presented a significant differentiation in the extreme temperatures used (22 and/or 31°C), whereas lower temperatures seemed to produce higher meristic counts in the majority of the characters. Zebrafish juveniles, as shown in this study, exhibit highly variable phenotypes (phenotypic plasticity) induced by diverse thermal conditions during their early ontogenetic stages possibly in order to successfully adjust to different environments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.