Dataset Information

Chronic playback of boat noise does not impact hatching success or post-hatching larval growth and survival in a cichlid fish.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic (man-made) noise has been shown to have a negative impact on the behaviour and physiology of a range of terrestrial and aquatic animals. However, direct assessments of fitness consequences are rare. Here we examine the effect of additional noise on early life stages in the model cichlid fish, Neolamprologus pulcher. Many fishes use and produce sounds, they are crucial elements of aquatic ecosystems, and there is mounting evidence that they are vulnerable to anthropogenic noise; adult N. pulcher have recently been shown to change key behaviours during playback of motor boat noise. Using a split-brood design to eliminate potential genetic effects, we exposed half of the eggs and fry from each clutch to four weeks of playbacks of noise originally recorded from small motor boats with the other half acting as a control (receiving no noise playback). There was no significant effect of additional noise on hatching success or fry survival, length or weight at the end of the exposure period. Although care should be taken not to generalize these findings on a single species from a laboratory study, our data suggest that moderate noise increases do not necessarily have direct negative impacts on early-life survival and growth. Further studies on a range of species in natural conditions are urgently needed to inform conservation efforts and policy decisions about the consequences of anthropogenic noise.

SUBMITTER: Bruintjes R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4178459 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Chronic playback of boat noise does not impact hatching success or post-hatching larval growth and survival in a cichlid fish.

Bruintjes Rick R Radford Andrew N AN

PeerJ 20140925

Anthropogenic (man-made) noise has been shown to have a negative impact on the behaviour and physiology of a range of terrestrial and aquatic animals. However, direct assessments of fitness consequences are rare. Here we examine the effect of additional noise on early life stages in the model cichlid fish, Neolamprologus pulcher. Many fishes use and produce sounds, they are crucial elements of aquatic ecosystems, and there is mounting evidence that they are vulnerable to anthropogenic noise; adu ...[more]

PMID: 25276507

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Project description:Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide commonly used in agricultural and urban sectors, and is found in watersheds worldwide. As a sodium channel blocker, at sublethal concentrations it causes off-target effects, including disruption of calcium signaling and neuronal growth. At the whole organism level, sublethal concentrations of bifenthrin cause behavioral effects in fish species, raising concerns about the neurotoxic properties of the compound on fish populations. Here we describe the application of a high-throughput behavioral system to evaluate contaminant impacts on the sensitive early-life stages of Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), a critically endangered teleost species endemic to the San Francisco Bay Delta (SFBD), California, USA. Leveraging the natural behavior of early-larval Delta smelt, whereby they increase movement in bright light and decrease movement in the dark, we developed a test using a cycle of light and dark periods in a closed chamber to test hyper- or hypoactivity for this species. We show that early-larval Delta smelt have a significant preference to move toward light, and utilized the behavioral test to evaluate the impact of exposure to bifenthrin at concentrations found in habitats where Delta smelt reportedly spawn, ranging up to concentrations detected in tributaries to these habitats. All tested concentrations of bifenthrin (nominal 2, 10, or 100 ng/L) caused hyperactivity, over a 96 h exposure, with noted significance determined during the light period of the test. To further understand the impact of bifenthrin exposure, expression of a suite of genes relevant to neurodevelopment, the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, and biotransformation in exposed larvae were also measured. Following exposure to picomolar concentrations of bifenthrin, expression of genes in the mTOR signaling and neurogenesis pathways were altered alongside behavior. This study demonstrates how light and dark cycle behavioral tests can be used to assess sensitive alterations in swimming activity in Delta smelt at early developmental stages and how gene expression can complement these assays. This approach can be used to assess the impact of multiple compounds that occur within the restricted habitat of Delta smelt, thus having the potential to greatly inform conservation management strategies for this critically sensitive life stage.

Dataset Information

Chronic playback of boat noise does not impact hatching success or post-hatching larval growth and survival in a cichlid fish.

Publications

Chronic playback of boat noise does not impact hatching success or post-hatching larval growth and survival in a cichlid fish.

Similar Datasets

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