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- Title
Short-term Salinity Stress During Early Development Impacts the Growth and Survival of Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus).
- Authors
Ackerly, Kerri Lynn; Roark, Kathleen J.; Nielsen, Kristin M.
- Abstract
Estuaries in coastal South Texas feature naturally extreme salinity fluctuations that are increasing in magnitude due to anthropogenic activities, with salinities exceeding 70 parts per thousand (ppt) in some areas during periods of recurrent drought. Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) are a recreationally valuable estuarine dependent fish species that rely on these increasingly saline estuaries to complete development. Though juvenile and adult life stages of red drum are known to be euryhaline, current evidence suggests this species is relatively stenohaline during early development. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the impacts of salinity stress on hatch and survival of early life stage (ELS) red drum. Hatch success at 24-h post fertilization (hpf) was reduced by 29% relative to controls when embryos were exposed to salinities elevated by as little as 2 parts per thousand (ppt) relative to spawning conditions. Larval attrition continued over the course of the 72-h study in all hypersaline treatments, with a ≥ 40% reduction in survival of yolk sac larvae relative to controls observed by test termination. Median lethal time (LT50) studies were also conducted to evaluate the relative sensitivities of embryonic and larval stages to osmotic shock. Results indicate that embryonic stages are more tolerant of extremely hypersaline conditions (68.7 ppt) relative to yolk sac larvae; however, both stages are considered stenohaline. As our experimental salinity concentrations incorporate the range of current summertime conditions in Texas estuaries, these findings have very real implications for ELS red drum populations in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Subjects
TEXAS; GULF of Mexico; RED drum (Fish); SALINITY; YOLK sac; ESTUARINE fishes; DRUM playing; FISH larvae; DROUGHT tolerance
- Publication
Estuaries & Coasts, 2023, Vol 46, Issue 2, p541
- ISSN
1559-2723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12237-022-01124-3