Gulf of Alaska | Fishes and Fish Habitats
Early life cardiotoxicity after crude oil exposure varies by population in Pacific herring Presenter: Alysha Cypher , acypher@pwssc.org, Prince William Sound Science Center
James Gill , jamesanthonygill3@gmail.com, UC Davis Tiffany Linbo , tiffany.linbo@noaa.gov, NOAA NWFSC
James Cameron , james.cameron@noaa.gov, NOAA NWFSC Carey Donald , carey.donald@hi.no, Institute of Marine Research Jacob Gregg , jgregg@usgs.gov, USGS Marrowstone Marine Field Station Paul Hershberger , pherberger@usgs.gov, USGS Marrowstone Marine Field Station
Sonnich Meier , sonnich@hi.no, Institute of Marine Research Andrew Whitehead , awhitehead@ucdavis.edu, UC Davis Nathaniel Scholz , nathaniel.scholz@noaa.gov, NOAA NWFSC John Incardona , john.incardona@noaa.gov, NOAA NWFSC
Pacific herring is a keystone species with subpopulations throughout the North Pacific that is especially sensitivity to crude oil exposure during early life stages. Exposure during embryonic development causes an oil toxicity syndrome characterized by cardiovascular pathology and craniofacial deformities. At sublethal concentrations, crude-oil derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) inhibit intracellular Ca2+ dynamics and ventricular contractility which disrupts cardiogenesis and causes poor cardiorespiratory performance at juvenile stages. We hypothesized that this syndrome would vary between Pacific herring subpopulations that are genetically and geographically distinct. Pacific herring embryos from Sitka Sound (SS) of southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound (PWS) of southcentral Alaska, and Cherry Point (CP) of Puget Sound, Washington were exposed to sublethal concentrations of crude oil (0.01-3.5 µg/L ∑PAHs) during embryonic development. At hatch, we evaluated cardiovascular morphology and PAH metabolism to evaluate population differences in cardiotoxicity. PWS larvae were the most sensitive to embryonic exposure, followed by SS, with CP being the least affected. This was accompanied by different tissue composition of PAHs and expression of xenobiotic response genes, despite similar aqueous ∑PAHs during exposures. We observed concentration-dependent decreases in outgrowth of the posterior ventricle (ballooning) for all three populations, indicating that this variable is the most sensitive to crude oil exposure. Our findings support the hypothesis that Pacific herring populations differ in their sensitivity to crude oil exposure and that this is likely a result of divergence in xenobiotic metabolism between isolated populations.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 180
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