The Secret Life of Baby Sturgeons: How Warmth Shapes Their Behavior

Baby white sturgeons, known as larvae, are facing new challenges in a warming world, and recent studies have shown that the temperature while they're developing can change how they act later in life. These sturgeons live in big rivers and estuaries along the Pacific coast of North America, and they are crucial for both the environment and local cultures. The temperature they experience as embryos can affect their behavior and survival as they grow, which is a big deal when considering that global temperatures are rising. Researchers looked into this by raising baby sturgeons at three different temperatures during incubation: 12°C, 15°C, and 18°C. After they hatched, they were all kept at 15°C for 30 days. The scientists then tested how the incubation temperature affected the larvae's behavior, focusing on how much they moved around and how anxious they seemed. To measure this, the baby sturgeons were observed in an open space, with their movements tracked by special software. Researchers also checked if the sturgeons behaved differently during the day and night, and even tracked their behavior hour by hour at night. This wasn't just about how active the sturgeons were; it also examined where they preferred to hang out in the space, which can tell scientists about their anxiety levels. It turns out that the temperature during their early development had a big impact on how the baby sturgeons acted later on. Interestingly, the impact varied depending on the specific family lineage of the fish. This means that some families of sturgeons might be more resilient to temperature changes than others. One key finding was that the baby sturgeons, in general, moved around more as they got older. They also seemed to prefer the light side of a light/dark test, which showed that they were not very anxious and were less afraid of light. This study highlights how important it is to consider these kinds of variations in both research and conservation efforts. Understanding how different family lineages react to temperature changes will be crucial for protecting these important fish in a warming world.