Meeting Abstract

P3.50  Thursday, Jan. 6  A Warmer Start: The correlation between vertebral development and C-start efficiency in Danio rerio ACKERLY, K. L.*; WARD, A. B. ; Adelphi University kerriackerly@yahoo.com

The environment in which an individual develops significantly impacts that individual’s morphology and, subsequently, locomotory performance. In fishes, previous research has shown that fish raised in lower temperatures develop more vertebrae, while fish raised in warmer temperatures develop less. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that a fish’s ability to escape predators is strongly affected by the number of vertebrae present. In this study, the relationship between the effect of temperature on vertebral development and the subsequent effect on startle response was examined. We hypothesized that fish with more vertebrae would have higher performance when performing C-starts than those with fewer vertebrae. Zebrafish embryos were collected and evenly distributed into tanks with four temperatures, 24.5±1°C, 26.5±1°C, 28.5±1°C, 30.5±1°C, prior to the onset of somitogenesis. The startle responses were then recorded, and individuals were either analyzed for vertebral number or muscle fiber type. We found that individuals raised at higher temperatures have significantly less total and caudal vertebrae and that these individuals had significantly lower velocity and displacement during startle responses. These results will give insight into the effects that rising temperatures will have on the aquatic populations.