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Temperature and developmental plasticity during embryogenesis in the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L.

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Abstract

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) embryos were reared at 4 °C, 7 °C, and 10 °C, and the relative timing of developmental events was characterized, with particular reference to myotomal muscle. Embryos started to feed at an apparently equivalent stage of development, so comparisons were made between temperature groups on the basis of percentage of time to first feeding and somite stage. No differences were found in the time of hatching or timing of appearance of the otic placode, unpaired median fin fold, gut lumen, otic vesicle, lens of the eye, otoliths, first muscular contractions, swim bladder, and hindgut, or in the rate of development of somites, myotubes, myofibrils, and acetylcholinesterase activity over the temperature range studied. In contrast, closure of the blastopore occurred late with respect to segmentation at higher temperatures, at the 3-somite, 10-somite, and 12-somite stages at 4 °C, 7 °C, and 10 °C respectively. Muscle cellularity was also markedly altered in the 10 °C group relative to the 4 °C and 7 °C groups. Larvae reared at 10 °C had significantly more (+14%) deep white fibers at hatch (P <0.001), whereas numbers of superficial red fibers remained unchanged. It is suggested that differences in muscle cellularity might be related to changes in the relative timing of epiboly, through differential proliferation of presomitic myogenic cells and/or their relative exposure to inductive signals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Peter Smith of the Marine Farming Unit, Ardtoe, for technical assistance and supply of cod eggs. We also thank Nicholas J. Cole and Ron Stewart for advice and assistance with larval sectioning. A pilot study was also carried out at Austevoll Aquaculture Research Station, Storebøe, Norway. TEH is grateful for a research studentship from the Natural Environment Research Council.

The authors declare that all experiments comply with UK law.

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  1. Gatty Marine Laboratory, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK

    Thomas E. Hall & Ian A. Johnston

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  1. Thomas E. Hall
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Correspondence to Thomas E. Hall.

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Communicated by J.P. Thorpe, Port Erin

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Hall, T.E., Johnston, I.A. Temperature and developmental plasticity during embryogenesis in the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L.. Marine Biology 142, 833–840 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1030-y

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