Performance of tropical fish recruiting to temperate habitats: role of ambient temperature and implications of climate change

Abstract

The warming of coastal oceans due to climate change is increasing the overwinter survival of tropical fishes transported to temperate latitudes by ocean currents. However, the processes governing early post-arrival mortality are complex and can result in minimum threshold temperatures for overwinter survival, which are greater than those predicted based upon physiological temperature tolerances alone. This 3.5 mo laboratory study monitored the early performance of a tropical damselfish Abudefduf vaigiensis that occurs commonly during austral summer along the SE Australian coast, under nominal summer and winter water temperatures, and compares results with a co-occurring year-round resident of the same family, Parma microlepis. Survivorship, feeding rate, growth and burst swimming ability (as a measure of predator escape ability) were all reduced for the tropical species at winter water temperatures compared to those in summer, whereas the temperate species experienced no mortality and only feeding rate was reduced at colder temperatures. These results suggest that observed minimum threshold survival temperatures may be greater than predicted by physiology alone, due to lowered food intake combined with increased predation risk (a longer time at vulnerable sizes and reduced escape ability). Overwinter survival is a significant hurdle in pole-ward range expansions of tropical fishes, and a better understanding of its complex processes will allow for more accurate predictions of changes in biodiversity as coastal ocean temperatures continue to increase due to climate change.

Native fish community structure and Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans densities along a depth-temperature gradient in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, USA

“…However, 15.3°C is a mean value that represents a threshold for detecting lionfish presence/ absence in the field, while 10°C is the temperature where lionfish death oc curred in the laboratory. Thus, perfect correspondence between the laboratory-derived chronic lethal minimum and the field-derived presence/absence minimum threshold is not expected, and differences between laboratory-derived and observed minimum thre sholds have been found in previous studies (Figueira et al 2009, Figueira & Booth 2010. Further, Kimball et al (2004) found that lionfish ceased feeding at 15.3°C and became 'stationary and lethargic' at 13°C, which may increase their susceptibility to predation (Maljkovic et al 2008).…”

Detecting range shifts among Australian fishes in response to climate change

“…However, these laboratory-based approaches should be used with care. For instance, vagrant damselfishes (Abudefduf vaigiensis) can survive under laboratory conditions down to at least 158C (Figueira et al 2009), whereas the same species disappears in the field below 178C (D. Booth,unpubl. data;see Fig.…”

A honeymoon in Brazil: the spawning behavior of an exotic reef fish in the western south Atlantic

“…In subtropical rocky reefs, where physical and biological conditions differ from those on tropical coral reefs (Perry & Larcombe, 2003), the settlement and establishment of "true" tropical fish species are not always successful, pending on an array of optimal conditions (McBride & Able, 1998;Figueira et al, 2009). Although the behavior here recorded for A. monroviae provides a first glance on its reproductive strategy, the expected chances of only three individuals to establish a reproductively viable population seem unlikely.…”

“…The knowledge of factors related to success or failure of the establishment of populations in new areas after settlement is one major focus of studies on reef fish ecology (e.g., Robertson, 1988;Caley et al, 1996;Bariche et al, 2004, Figueira et al, 2009. In subtropical rocky reefs, where physical and biological conditions differ from those on tropical coral reefs (Perry & Larcombe, 2003), the settlement and establishment of "true" tropical fish species are not always successful, pending on an array of optimal conditions (McBride & Able, 1998;Figueira et al, 2009).…”