Extreme and marginal reef environments provide valuable opportunities to examine the effects of altered seawater parameters that resemble predicted end-of-century ocean conditions under climate change. Volcanic CO2 seeps, in particular, have proven useful for studying the effects of ocean acidification (OA) in natural settings. In this chapter, we present a case study from a volcanic CO2 seep at Shikine Island, Japan, investigating the genomic response of the neon damselfish (Pomacentrus coelestis) to OA conditions. We examined transcriptomic profiles from brain and gill tissues collected across two seasons (July and November) and compared them to samples from multiple control sites to assess consistent patterns of gene expression under elevated CO2. Our results found that genes involved in blood oxygen regulation, immune response, and circadian rhythm were differentially expressed across seasons and tissues, suggesting their key role in the response to OA in P. coelestis. We also detected seasonal shifts in gene expression patterns, highlighting the complexity of the physiological responses to OA in natural environments. Many of the differentially expressed genes align with findings from previous laboratory and field studies, reinforcing the value of volcanic CO2 seeps for OA research. Finally, we discuss the challenges of working in natural seep environments, including variability across control sites and seasons, and emphasize the future potential of CO2 seeps for advancing our understanding of fish responses to ocean acidification.
Izumiyama M., Izumiyama M., Huerlimann R., Kawai E., Jolly J., Harvey B. P., Wada S., Agostini S. & Ravasi T., 2026. Genomic responses of fishes to ocean acidification: insights from volcanic CO2 seeps. In: Soares M. O., Smith T. B., Camp E. F. & Schoepf V. (Eds.), Extreme and Marginal Coral Reefs and Communities, pp 153-164. Cham: Springer. Chapter (restricted access).
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