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Identifying Behavioral Response Profiles of Two Common Larval Fish Models to a Salinity Gradient

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Abstract

Salinization of aquatic systems is an emerging global issue projected to increase in magnitude, frequency, and duration with climate change and landscape modifications. To consider influences of salinity on locomotor activity of common fish models, we examined behavioral response profiles of two species, zebrafish (Danio rerio) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), across a gradient of sodium chloride. Following each experiment, behavior was recorded with automated tracking software and then behavioral response variables, including locomotor (e.g., distance traveled, number of movements, duration of movements) and photolocomotor changes, were examined at several speed thresholds (bursting, cruising, freezing) to identify potential salinity responses. Zebrafish responses were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced at the highest treatment level (5.78 g/L) for multiple behavioral endpoints during both dark and light phases; however, fathead minnow responses were more variable and not consistently concentration dependent. Future efforts are needed to understand behavioral response profiles in combination with anthropogenic contaminants and natural toxins across the freshwater to marine continuum, considering salinization of inland waters, sea level rise, and transport of anthropogenic contaminants and algal toxins from inland waters to coastal systems.

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Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1P01ES028942 to BWB. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Additional support was provided by the Glasscock Fund for Excellence in Environmental Science to KRS and LML, and Baylor University.

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  1. Department of Environmental Science, Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76798, USA

    Kendall R. Scarlett, Lea M. Lovin, W. Baylor Steele, Sujin Kim & Bryan W. Brooks

  2. Institute of Biomedical Studies, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76798, USA

    W. Baylor Steele & Bryan W. Brooks

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  1. Kendall R. Scarlett
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  2. Lea M. Lovin
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Scarlett, K.R., Lovin, L.M., Steele, W.B. et al. Identifying Behavioral Response Profiles of Two Common Larval Fish Models to a Salinity Gradient. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 83, 180–192 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-022-00951-6

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