Upper lethal temperatures of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus (L.), in relation to thermal and osmotic acclimation, ambient salinity, and size

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 1405-1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Jordan ◽  
E. T. Garside
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Thermal Acclimation ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Lethal Temperature ◽  
Lethal Temperatures ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
Osmotic Acclimation ◽  
Ambient Salinity

Samples of threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus (L.), collected in seawater at Halifax, Nova Scotia, were acclimated to six combinations of conditions at 10 and 20C and in 0, 12, and 30‰ salinity (S). Bioassays of 10 000 min were performed at various constant temperatures from 20 to 30C in the diallel combinations of acclimation and salinities of 0, 12, and 30‰. Highest upper lethal temperatures, corresponding to combinations of acclimation, occurred in isosmotic test salinity of 12‰. Upper lethal temperatures ranged in all tests from 28.76 to 21.63C. A 10-degree increase in thermal acclimation resulted in increases in upper lethal temperature ranging from −0.27 to 0.77 degrees in tests conducted at 12‰ S and increases ranging variously from 1.45 to 3.56 degrees in tests conducted at 0 and 30‰ S. Upper lethal temperatures were shifted significantly by the ambient salinity but not by salinity of acclimation. Within the range of total lengths, 30–80 mm, there were no significant differences in mean lengths of dead and surviving fish in relation to acclimation temperatures and test salinities. There was no rank-correlation between order of death and total length in 15 of 18 test combinations.

Upper Lethal Temperatures in Relation to Osmotic Stress in the Ribbed Mussel Modiolus demissus

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Waugh ◽  
E. T. Garside
Keyword(s):  
Osmotic Stress ◽  
Thermal Acclimation ◽  
Test Medium ◽  
Lethal Temperature ◽  
Lethal Temperatures ◽  
Ribbed Mussels ◽  
Osmotic Acclimation ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Ambient Salinity ◽  
Ribbed Mussel

Upper lethal temperatures for the ribbed mussel Modiolus demissus (Dillwyn) were determined for thermal acclimations of 15.0, 20.0, and 25.0 C and osmotic acclimations at 5, 15, and 28‰ S, which yielded nine combinations. These upper lethal temperatures for 1440 min exposure ranged from 38.42 to 40.18 C, generally paralleling increases in thermal acclimation. The upper lethal temperature within any thermal acclimation decreased as the salinity of the bioassay departed from the appropriate level of osmotic acclimation. Depression of the upper lethal temperature was more pronounced in the test medium of 5‰ S. The shift from osmoconformity to osmoregulation, which occurs in this species when the ambient salinity is reduced to 350 mosmols (approximately 10‰ S) apparently extends the metabolic load or stress relative to that induced by similar temperatures in higher levels of salinity. Order of death in any bioassay was independent of size expressed as length, and specific sex.The upper lethal temperatures are higher than the mean temperature of the substrate of the collecting site during the warmest period of the summer, but are approximately the same as the maximum substrate temperature during that period. Survival of ribbed mussels in such potentially lethal conditions is explained by the shorter intermittent natural exposures than those employed in the bioassays.

scholarly journals Diversity and sexual dimorphism in the head lateral line system in North Sea populations of threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus (Teleostei: Gasterosteidae)

Zoomorphology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Ahnelt ◽  
David Ramler ◽  
Maria Ø. Madsen ◽  
Lasse F. Jensen ◽  
Sonja Windhager
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Lateral Line ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Sensory System ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Lateral Line System ◽  
Line System ◽  
Marine Population ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks

AbstractThe mechanosensory lateral line of fishes is a flow sensing system and supports a number of behaviors, e.g. prey detection, schooling or position holding in water currents. Differences in the neuromast pattern of this sensory system reflect adaptation to divergent ecological constraints. The threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, is known for its ecological plasticity resulting in three major ecotypes, a marine type, a migrating anadromous type and a resident freshwater type. We provide the first comparative study of the pattern of the head lateral line system of North Sea populations representing these three ecotypes including a brackish spawning population. We found no distinct difference in the pattern of the head lateral line system between the three ecotypes but significant differences in neuromast numbers. The anadromous and the brackish populations had distinctly less neuromasts than their freshwater and marine conspecifics. This difference in neuromast number between marine and anadromous threespine stickleback points to differences in swimming behavior. We also found sexual dimorphism in neuromast number with males having more neuromasts than females in the anadromous, brackish and the freshwater populations. But no such dimorphism occurred in the marine population. Our results suggest that the head lateral line of the three ecotypes is under divergent hydrodynamic constraints. Additionally, sexual dimorphism points to divergent niche partitioning of males and females in the anadromous and freshwater but not in the marine populations. Our findings imply careful sampling as an important prerequisite to discern especially between anadromous and marine threespine sticklebacks.

scholarly journals Genome Characterization, Prevalence, and Transmission Mode of a Novel Picornavirus Associated with the Threespine Stickleback Fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan A. Hahn ◽  
Nolwenn M. Dheilly
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Model System ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT The complete genome sequence of an RNA virus was assembled from RNA sequencing of virus particles purified from threespine stickleback intestine tissue samples. This new virus is most closely related to the Eel picornavirus and can be assigned to the genus Potamipivirus in the family Picornaviridae. Its unique genetic properties are enough to establish a new species, dubbed the Threespine Stickleback picornavirus (TSPV). Due to their broad geographic distribution throughout the Northern Hemisphere and parallel adaptation to freshwater, threespine sticklebacks have become a model in evolutionary ecology. Further analysis using diagnostic PCRs revealed that TSPV is highly prevalent in both anadromous and freshwater populations of threespine sticklebacks, infects almost all fish tissues, and is transmitted vertically to offspring obtained from in vitro fertilization in laboratory settings. Finally, TSPV was found in Sequence Reads Archives of transcriptome of Gasterosteus aculeatus, further demonstrating its wide distribution and unsought prevalence in samples. It is thus necessary to test the impact of TSPV on the biology of threespine sticklebacks, as this widespread virus could interfere with the behavioral, physiological, or immunological studies that employ this fish as a model system. IMPORTANCE The threespine stickleback species complex is an important model system in ecological and evolutionary studies because of the large number of isolated divergent populations that are experimentally tractable. For similar reasons, its coevolution with the cestode parasite Schistocephalus solidus, its interaction with gut microbes, and the evolution of its immune system are of growing interest. Herein we describe the discovery of an RNA virus that infects both freshwater and anadromous populations of sticklebacks. We show that the virus is transmitted vertically in laboratory settings and found it in Sequence Reads Archives, suggesting that experiments using sticklebacks were conducted in the presence of the virus. This discovery can serve as a reminder that the presence of viruses in wild-caught animals is possible, even when animals appear healthy. Regarding threespine sticklebacks, the impact of Threespine Stickleback picornavirus (TSPV) on the fish biology should be investigated further to ensure that it does not interfere with experimental results.

scholarly journals Persistent and plastic effects of temperature on DNA methylation across the genome of threespine stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus )

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1864) ◽  
pp. 20171667 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. H. Metzger ◽  
Patricia M. Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Thermal Response ◽  
Thermal Acclimation ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Multiple Time Scales ◽  
Acclimation Temperature ◽  
Multiple Time

Epigenetic mechanisms such as changes in DNA methylation have the potential to affect the resilience of species to climate change, but little is known about the response of the methylome to changes in environmental temperature in animals. Using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing, we assessed the effects of development temperature and adult acclimation temperature on DNA methylation levels in threespine stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ). Across all treatments, we identified 2130 differentially methylated cytosines distributed across the genome. Both increases and decreases in temperature during development and with thermal acclimation in adults increased global DNA methylation levels. Approximately 25% of the differentially methylated regions (DMRs) responded to both developmental temperature and adult thermal acclimation, and 50 DMRs were common to all treatments, demonstrating a core response of the epigenome to thermal change at multiple time scales. We also identified differentially methylated loci that were specific to a particular developmental or adult thermal response, which could facilitate the accumulation of epigenetic variation between natural populations that experience different thermal regimes. These data demonstrate that thermal history can have long-lasting effects on the epigenome, highlighting the role of epigenetic modifications in the response to temperature change across multiple time scales.

Thermal preference in relation to salinity in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., with an interpretation of its significance

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 590-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Garside ◽  
D. G. Heinze ◽  
S. E. Barbour
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Acclimation Temperature ◽  
Thermal Gradients ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Lethal Temperatures ◽  
Preferred Temperatures ◽  
Thermal Preferences

Thermal preferences were determined in spacious thermal gradients of fresh water and sea water (32‰ salinity (S))for acclimations of 5, 15, and 25 °C in sea water, for samples of threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus L. Preferred temperatures increased through acclimations of 5–25 °C, with those for the freshwater tests being about 2 °C lower at each acclimation. Final preferenda were 16 and 18 °C for freshwater tests and seawater tests, respectively. The final preferendum in such haloplastic species is defined as the highest obtainable preferendum that equals acclimation temperature. A later series of disjunct preference determinations in approximately isosmotic water (10.5‰ S) for subjects acclimated to 7, 15, and 20 °C yielded mean values of 17.7, 18.2, and 18.7 °C, respectively. A final preferendum has not been designated since the samples were of separate origins. A parallel exists between these responses and the response of this and other haloplastic species in the determination of upper lethal temperatures. The immediate cause appears to be differentials in metabolic loading occasioned by l stresses.

Raiding shoal size and a distraction display in male sticklebacks (Gasterosteus)

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S. Ridgway ◽  
J. D. McPhail
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Species Pairs ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks

In threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), shoals of foraging conspecifics attack the nests of parental males and consume the offspring. This type of nest predation also occurs in lakes with sympatric species pairs of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus sp.) in which benthic stickleback shoals attack the nests of parental limnetic males. We manipulated shoal size of benthic sticklebacks in Paxton and Enos lakes to determine if there is a minimum shoal size necessary before parental limnetic males will perform the spasmodic swim display, a behaviour used by parental males to lure foraging shoals away from their nest and offspring. Males showed a significant increase in display frequency beginning with shoals of eight fish. The display occurred only when there were offspring in the nest and not when the nest was empty. We interpret the display to be a foraging deception in which parental males manipulate raiding shoals into giving up their search for a food source, causing them to leave the area of the male's nest site. This distraction display appears to be widespread within the threespine stickleback species complex.

Influence of osmotic stress on upper lethal temperatures in the cyprinodontid fish Fundulus heteroclitus (L.)

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 787-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Garside ◽  
Z. K. Chin-Yuen-Kee
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stress ◽  
Osmotic Stress ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Thermal Tolerance ◽  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Thermal Acclimation ◽  
Lethal Temperature ◽  
Lethal Temperatures

Upper lethal temperatures determined for the mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) for exposures of 10 000 min ranged from 18.58C to 36.31C. Osmotic acclimations were prepared at 0, 14, and 32‰ salinity (S), at thermal acclimations of 5 and 15C, and at 14 and 32‰ S at 25C. Mummichog could not survive in the acclimatory combination of 0‰ S at 25C. Subsamples from these acclimatory combinations were exposed to thermal stress at 0, 14, and 32‰ S. Highest upper lethal temperatures were observed in isosmotic test salinity (14‰). Intermediate lethal levels occurred in seawater (32‰ S) and the lowest lethal temperatures occurred in fresh water (0‰ S). Upper lethal temperature increased with increasing thermal acclimation but generally, prior osmotic experience did not modify thermal tolerance. There was no relation between order of death and size in 18 of the 24 test combinations. In the remaining six, the largest members died first in four and the smallest died first in two test combinations.

Meristic variation in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., in eastern Canadian waters

1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Garside ◽  
T. Hamor
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
North America ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Vertebral Column ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Meristic Variation ◽  
La Madeleine ◽  
Lateral Plates

Samples of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., collected from several areas of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and single sites from Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec, and eastern Lake Ontario, were analyzed for variation in numbers of anterior lateral plates and vertebrae. Counts of vertebrae varied from 28 to 35 and mean counts from 30.3 to 33.4, without being related to any obvious geographic gradients. Trunk and caudal segments of the vertebral column had about the same degree of variation. Counts of lateral plates exclusive of ossicles of the caudal keel ranged from 0 to 31 with a range of means from 1.6 to 24.7. Incomplete development of potential plate number and absence of caudal keels were observed in 1st-year individuals. These results are discussed in relation to information about this species complex from populations of Pacific North America and Europe.

Effect of pituitary homotransplants on peripheral target organs in intact threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus L. form trachurus

1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1341-1344 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Leatherland
Keyword(s):  
Thyroid Gland ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Peripheral Target ◽  
Partial Regression ◽  
Target Organs ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
Anadromous Form

The activity of pituitary homotransplants in the anadromous form (trachurus) of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L. was investigated by examining the structure of the thyroid, interrenal, gonad, and in situ pituitary; the melanophore index was also measured.The thyroid gland was markedly more active and the in situ thyrotrophs more granulated in the recipient fish when compared with the sham-operated animals. Similarly, the interrenal nuclear index was slightly (but significantly) larger in the recipient fish and there was a concomitant partial regression of the in situ pituitary corticotrophs.There was no difference between the structure of the gonads in the two groups although the in situ gonadotrophs were apparently smaller and less well granulated in the recipient fish.The melanophore index was significantly lower in recipient sticklebacks.In situ prolactin-secreting cells, somatotrophs, and neurointermediate lobes were similar in recipient and sham-operated animals.

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