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Developmental warming induces severe deformities and mortality in a thermally tolerant fish species

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Abstract

Climate change poses an unprecedented global threat to wildlife, with projected environmental warming likely to push many species beyond optimum temperature ranges. Understanding thermal limits is therefore critical for risk predictions and conservation management, especially in the context of sensitive life stages such as early development. We investigated the effects of elevated developmental temperatures on the eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki. This species is a highly successful invader across temperate to tropical regions, making it an ideal model for understanding potential outcomes for more tolerant species. Wild mosquitofish were collected from tropical waterways and bred under their thermal optimum of 27 °C. Offspring were reared from birth across three temperature treatments: 27 °C – control, 30 °C – a higher temperature within their thermal range, and 33 °C, a temperature designed to test their thermal boundaries. Alarmingly, 84% of the fish exposed to 33 °C developed severe spinal deformities and there was 100% mortality by 135 days old. While spinal deformation was less common at 30 °C, there was significantly reduced survival by 220 days. Our study demonstrates the importance of studying critical life stages, including early development, to understand the thermal sensitivity of wildlife, as even species that are known to have highly robust adults may face detrimental outcomes in climate change scenarios.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.31238707.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Kate Chu for her help with aquarium set-up, fish collection and animal husbandry, Simon Wever, Joe Dukes, Tyson Hausler-Breen and Zac Stibbard for technical assistance, Victoria Aese-Bjoerkaa, Polina Mosyagina and Frœya Ullensvang for assisting aquarium maintenance and animal husbandry, and Dr Nikos Andreakis for the use of reagents for clearing and staining.

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council (J.M.D.: DP230100078).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4814, Australia

    Lucinda C. Aulsebrook, Taylor L. Hosler & Jennifer M. Donelson

Authors

  1. Lucinda C. Aulsebrook
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  2. Taylor L. Hosler
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  3. Jennifer M. Donelson
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Contributions

All authors were involved in conceiving the study and designing the methodology. L.C.A. and T.L.H. conducted the experiments, and L.C.A. analysed the data, prepared the figures and wrote the original manuscript draft. J.M.D. supervised the project and provided funding and resources. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to
Lucinda C. Aulsebrook.

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Aulsebrook, L.C., Hosler, T.L. & Donelson, J.M. Developmental warming induces severe deformities and mortality in a thermally tolerant fish species.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39489-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39489-1

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Heat stress
  • Thermal tolerance
  • Skeletal development
  • Developmental plasticity
  • Gambusia holbrooki

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