Sun-basking fish benefit from body temperatures that are higher than ambient water

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Oscar NordahlAnders Forsman

Abstract

In terrestrial environments, cold-blooded animals can attain higher body temperatures by sun basking, and thereby potentially benefit from broader niches, improved performance and higher fitness. The higher heat capacity and thermal conductivity of water compared with air have been universally assumed to render heat gain from sun basking impossible for aquatic ectotherms, such that their opportunities to behaviourally regulate body temperature are largely limited to choosing warmer or colder habitats. Here we challenge this paradigm. Using physical models we first show that submerged objects exposed to natural sunlight attain temperatures in excess of ambient water. We next demonstrate that free-ranging carp (Cyprinus carpio) can increase their body temperature during aquatic sun basking close to the surface. The temperature excess gained by basking was larger in dark than in pale individuals, increased with behavioural boldness, and was associated with faster growth. Overall, our results establish aquatic sun basking as a novel ecologically significant mechanism for thermoregulation in fish. The discovery of this previously overlooked process has practical implications for aquaculture, offers alternative explanations for behav...Continue Reading

References

Apr 3, 2002·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Anders ForsmanJonas Ahnesjö
May 3, 2002·Nature·James F GilloolyJames H Brown
Jan 28, 2005·Physiological and Biochemical Zoology : PBZ·Kathryn A Dickson, Jeffrey B Graham
May 17, 2006·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Andrew SihJ Chadwick Johnson
Feb 3, 2009·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Benjamin M BolkerJada-Simone S White
May 1, 1989·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·R B Huey, J G Kingsolver
Oct 13, 2012·Communicative & Integrative Biology·Takuzo Abe, Keiko Sekiguchi
Mar 23, 2013·Scientific Reports·Jodi J L Rowley, Ross A Alford
Nov 4, 2016·Scientific Reports·Anders ForsmanMarkus Franzén

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Citations

Aug 28, 2021·Molecular Ecology·Christopher R FriesenMats Olsson

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