The effect of hypoxia on fish schooling

Low-oxygen areas are expanding in the oceans as a result of climate change. Work carried out during the past two decades suggests that, in addition to impairing basic physiological functions, hypoxia can also affect fish behaviour. Given that many fish species are known to school, and that schooling...

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Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 2017-08, Vol.372 (1727), p.20160236-20160236
Main Authors: Domenici, Paolo, Steffensen, John F., Marras, Stefano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Anaerobiosis
Animal behavior
Animals
Climate Change
Climate effects
Ecological effects
Environmental Stressor
Fish
Fish behavior
Fish Behaviour
Fish Physiology
Fishes - physiology
Group Behaviour
Group Living
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Hypoxia
Oceans
Oxygen
Oxygen - metabolism
Physiology
Review
Reviews
Schools (fish)
Seawater - chemistry
Social Behavior
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Summary:Low-oxygen areas are expanding in the oceans as a result of climate change. Work carried out during the past two decades suggests that, in addition to impairing basic physiological functions, hypoxia can also affect fish behaviour. Given that many fish species are known to school, and that schooling is advantageous for their survival, the effect of hypoxia on schooling behaviour may have important ecological consequences. Here, we review the effects of hypoxia on school structure and dynamics, together with the mechanisms that cause an increase in school volume and that ultimately lead to school disruption. Furthermore, the effect of hypoxia generates a number of trade-offs in terms of schooling positions and school structure. Field observations have found that large schools of fish can exacerbate hypoxic conditions, with potential consequences for school structure and size. Therefore, previous models that predict the maximum size attainable by fish schools in relation to oxygen levels are also reviewed. Finally, we suggest that studies on the effect of hypoxia on schooling need to be integrated with those on temperature and ocean acidifications within a framework aimed at increasing our ability to predict the effect of multiple stressors of climate change on fish behaviour. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals’.
ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2016.0236