Version 1
: Received: 14 August 2024 / Approved: 14 August 2024 / Online: 14 August 2024 (17:02:16 CEST)
How to cite:
Palma, J.; Correia, M.; Leitão, F.; Andrade, J. P. Climate Induced Temperature Effects on Growth Performance and Fecundity of Hippocampus guttulatus. Preprints2024, 2024081103. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1103.v1
Palma, J.; Correia, M.; Leitão, F.; Andrade, J. P. Climate Induced Temperature Effects on Growth Performance and Fecundity of Hippocampus guttulatus. Preprints 2024, 2024081103. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1103.v1
Palma, J.; Correia, M.; Leitão, F.; Andrade, J. P. Climate Induced Temperature Effects on Growth Performance and Fecundity of Hippocampus guttulatus. Preprints2024, 2024081103. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1103.v1
APA Style
Palma, J., Correia, M., Leitão, F., & Andrade, J. P. (2024). Climate Induced Temperature Effects on Growth Performance and Fecundity of Hippocampus guttulatus. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1103.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Palma, J., Francisco Leitão and José Pedro Andrade. 2024 "Climate Induced Temperature Effects on Growth Performance and Fecundity of Hippocampus guttulatus" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.1103.v1
Abstract
This experiment aimed to determine the temperature limits beyond which seahorse growth and reproduction become suboptimal due to climate change. Four temperatures (16, 20, 24, and 28°C) were tested to evaluate their effect on juvenile (1-56 days post-parturition (DPP)) and adult (one year old) seahorses. Additionally, the reproductive performance of adults was observed. Another experiment measured oxygen consumption (MO2) in the same age groups and temperatures. Adults showed significantly higher growth rates at 20 and 24°C compared to 16 and 28°C. Adult mortality rates were 0%, 0%, 6.2%, and 62.5% at the respective temperatures. Juvenile growth performance was higher at 20°C and 24°C but significantly lower at 16°C, with survival rates of 8%, 62%, 10%, and 0%, respectively. Oxygen consumption increased with age and temperature, ranging from 106.3±3.1 to 203.3±3.1 μmol O2/g BW/h at 16°C, and from 128.8±3.8 to 273.3±3.1 μmol O2/g BW/h at 28°C. The study highlights that juvenile and adult H. guttulatus have narrow thermal boundaries, beyond which reproduction, growth, and survival are seriously affected. Under climate change, the species appears unable to cope, potentially leading to their rapid disappearance.
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
