Thermal acclimation to 4 or 10°C imparts minimal b

Authors: Glenn J Lurman Christian H Bock HansO Poertner

Publish Date: 2009/02/15

Volume: 179, Issue: 5, Pages: 623-633

PDF Link

Abstract

Thermal acclimation is frequently cited as a means by which ectothermic animals improve their Darwinian fitness ie the beneficial acclimation hypothesis As the critical swimming speed U crit test is often used as a proxy measure of fitness we acclimated Atlantic cod Gadus morhua to 4 and 10°C and then assessed their U crit swimming performance at their respective acclimation temperatures and during acute temperature reversal Because phenotypic differences exist between different populations of cod we undertook these experiments in two different populations North Sea cod and North East Arctic cod Acclimation to 4 or 10°C had a minimal effect on swimming performance or U crit however test temperature did with all groups having a 10–17 higher U crit at 10°C The swimming efficiency was significantly lower in all groups at 4°C arguably due to the compression of the muscle fibre recruitment order This also led to a reduction in the duration of “kick and glide” swimming at 4°C No significant differences were seen between the two populations in any of the measured parameters due possibly to the extended acclimation period Our data indicate that acclimation imparts little benefit on U crit swimming test in Atlantic cod Further efforts need to identify the functional consequences of the longterm thermal acclimation processErich Dunker and the AWI scientific workshop are gratefully thanked for constructing the swim tunnel and unerring support Monkia Lange is also thank for support Financial support for Glenn Lurman was provided by the MarCoPolI program of the Alfred Wegener Institute

Keywords: