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Variation in tolerance to abiotic stresses among sympatric salt marsh fish

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Abstract

Fish that co-occur in intertidal salt marshes in coastal Virginia showed some interspecific differences in tolerance to abiotic stresses. This is noteworthy since these sympatric fish would appear to be adapted to and constrained by similar environmental conditions. In preliminary acute range-finding tests, there were significant overall differences among three species in tolerance to high temperature, low pH, and hyposaline transfer. There were also significant differences between species in median lethal high temperatures (two species) and low pH (five species) at 96 h. The 96 h pH50 in sea water was especially divergent, withMenidia beryllina being the least tolerant (pH50=4.62) andFundulus luciae the most tolerant (pH50=3.60). The hierarchy of tolerance among species was not consistent across all abiotic stresses. The growth ofLucania parva orFundulus heteroclitus was not generally affected by salinities of 3.5–35 ppt or 0–35 ppt, respectively. These results suggest that selective pressures on each species have resulted in different suites of physiological adaptations to resist spatial and/or temporal changes in the abiotic environment. Such differences in tolerance might affect competitive and/or predaceous interactions among these fishes in a varying abiotic environment. The physiological tolerances of each species and the effects of any such differences on the fish assemblage of intertidal marshes need to be studied further. The indirect effects of variations in abiotic factors on fish may also be considerable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, PA

    William A. Dunson & Walter J. Sadinski

  2. Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, 3804 Coconut Palm Dr, 33619, Tampa, FL

    Pasquale Fricano

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  1. William A. Dunson
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  2. Pasquale Fricano
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  3. Walter J. Sadinski
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Dunson, W.A., Fricano, P. & Sadinski, W.J. Variation in tolerance to abiotic stresses among sympatric salt marsh fish. Wetlands 13, 16–24 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03160861

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