Simulated maternal pre‐spawning stress affects offspring's attributes in farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Authors: | Marit Skog Eriksen Trygve T Poppe Mark McCormick Børge Damsgård Ragnar Salte Bjarne O Braastad Morten Bakken |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, ?s, Norway;2. Institute of Basal Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, Oslo, Norway;3. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia;4. Nofima Marin, Troms?, Norway |
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| Abstract: | In fish hormones are released into the nutritive yolk sac during oogenesis in quantities that mirror female plasma levels, thus implying a potential for the maternal endocrine state at spawning to affect offspring characteristics. In the present study, mature female Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, were given intraperitoneal cortisol implants to investigate potential impacts of simulated stress on offspring ontogeny. Maternal cortisol levels reduced fertilization success and affected several offspring characters: lowered initial survival rates, impaired growth early in life and increased prevalence of morphological abnormalities in adult individuals. In addition, offspring from cortisol administered females displayed increased locomotor activity in an acute confinement test. These results suggest that developmental trajectories of salmon offspring can be considerably altered if their mothers experience severe stress during the final stages of gametogenesis. The present findings may have conceptual and applied ramifications as they demonstrate a mechanism that links the maternal environment to subsequent viability of the progeny. |
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| Keywords: | prenatal stress maternal effects cortisol fish welfare offspring salmon |
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