Behavioral responses induced by climate change in fish have received increased attention in recent years. Near future projected CO₂ levels (420 µatm to 1000 µatm) and increased temperature (~4 °C) expected in ocean and freshwater basins by 2100 have been shown to impair various behaviors such as locomotor activity and learning in early life stage fish. Despite widespread characterization, we know little about why these disruptions occur and how compounded effects of climate change might disrupt behavioral paradigms. Using the biomedical research model, the zebrafish (Danio rerio), a species with a well-documented behavioral repertoire and broadly utilized for mapping neural activity linked to behavior, this study aimed to assess how elevated CO₂ and temperature may affect behavior during early development. Larvae 6-7 days post fertilization were acclimated to either control (420 µatm CO₂; 28 °C) or 1,000 µatm pCO₂ and temperatures of 32 °C combined or singly before being subjected to various behavioral assays, consisting of acoustic- and visual stimuli to examine startle responses and their habituation. The results suggest that temperature more than CO₂ significantly altered the startle response, and to some extent, the habituation of this response. Both acoustic- and visual startle response were negatively affected by climate change relevant heat-exposure, while aquatic acidification had no significant effect on the acoustic startle response singly. Conversely, habituation appears to have increased under elevated temperature treatment in isolation compared to ambient levels. This experiment may help highlight zebrafish’s potential as a model organism for further climate- behavioral and physiological investigations, supported by their advanced gene editing and transgenic tools, optical transparency, and compatibility with high-throughput screening approaches.
Ottervall C. D., 2025. Examining behavioral alterations in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae in the context of anthropogenic climate change. MSc thesis, University of Miami, 60 p. Thesis.
