Fish in acidic water less able to smell predators
Posted by staff / April 15, 2014 Danielle Dixsonfish
Fish can smell a fish that eats another fish and will avoid water containing the scent. In laboratory experiments, control fish given the choice between swimming in normal water or water spiked with the smell of a predator will choose the normal water. But fish raised in water acidified with carbon dioxide will choose to spend time in the predator-scented water.
“It’s a step in the right direction in terms of answering ocean acidification problems.” says Danielle Dixson, an assistant professor in the School of Biology at Georgia Institute of Technology. “The alternative is just to wait 100 years. At least now we might prepare for what might be happening.”
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Gerogia Tech
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