Meeting Abstract
Fundulus heteroclitus (Atlantic killifish or Mummichog) is an example of an organism that has evolved coping strategies which allow them to withstand and thrive in a highly variable environment. However, these fish also exhibit strong acclimation to home range conditions which may limit their ability to handle non-native stressors such as altered salinity and pH. There is a vast amount of laboratory based research examining tolerance limits of F. heteroclitus, but little to no field work in natural settings to examine the effects of multiple stressors. Our goal is to determine if low salinity and low pH combined is more stressful to F. heteroclitus than only low salinity. To address this area of interest, F. heteroclitus were captured from a site with neutral pH (7) and mid-range salinity (15-20 ppt) and transplanted into cages at one site with low pH (4.5) and low salinity (0-5 ppt) and another site with neutral pH (7) and low salinity (0-5 ppt). Once a week, a subsample of the fish (6 individuals) were euthanized and the gills and liver were taken. Changes in the mRNA expression levels of HSP 70 and Na+/K+-ATPase will be compared between treatments using qRT-PCR analysis. Results will show whether or not F. heteroclitus challenged with both low salinity and low pH will experience a higher level of stress compared to fish challenged with only low salinity.
