Temperaturförhållanden under embryogenes: plastiskt svar på kroppsform hos öring (Salmo trutta)

Sammanfattning: The ongoing climate change will affect egg incubation temperatures and thus changethe early development of fish, which can have a variety of influences in later lifestages. I tested whether the incubation temperature during the earliest stages ofdevelopment changed body shape and eye size in juvenile trout (Salmo trutta) whenthe average temperature was 4.4 and 7.1 °C. This temperature difference simulatesincreases predicted in climate change scenarios. Based on previous studies, Ihypothesized that S. trutta from eggs exposed to cold incubation temperatures willhave deeper bodies than warm-incubated S. trutta. I also predicted that the eye sizeof cold-incubated trout would be larger than that of warm-incubated trout. The fishincubated at cold temperature differed from the fish incubated at a warmertemperature by having a larger head region but there was no difference in eye size.These results suggest that changes in the incubation temperature induced by awarmer climate can lead to changes in body shape, which raises questions about theecological consequences of the changes.