The effect of ocean acidification and predation-associated cues on juvenile speckled sanddab from laboratory experiment studies from 2015-10-12 to 2016-01-22 (NCEI Accession 0175257)

This dataset contains data for a study of the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on the behavioral responses of a coastal flatfish. In laboratory experiments, we first characterized speckled sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus) behavioral responses to potential predation cues (predator odor, damaged skin cues from injured conspecifics, and sight of a predator) under ambient CO2 levels (~400 uatm). Sanddab reduced conspicuousness and foraging at the sight of a predator, but increased activity and conspicuousness when exposed to damaged skin cues. We then examined the effects of elevated CO2 levels (~900 uatm and ~1500 uatm) on posture, activity, and foraging of sanddab, and the behavioral responses to damaged skin cues. Sanddab behavior appeared generally resilient to the effects of elevated CO2 levels, but there were non-significant trends of fish from the medium CO2 treatment exhibiting lower posture and activity scores, and reduced feeding activity. The resiliency of speckled sanddab to OA conditions may be related to their distribution in a coastal upwelling region with seasonally elevated CO2 levels. Alternatively, prolonged acclimation to elevated CO2 may have mitigated the effects observed in other fishes following shorter-term exposures. Additional studies of ecologically relevant behaviors across diverse species assemblages are necessary to evaluate the impact of ocean acidification on marine food webs.