Heat stress not only afflicts fish in uncomfortably warm waters. It may also spread to other fish, a new study finds.
Scientists have long known that fish can communicate using chemical cues. Fish harassed by predators, for instance, may release chemicals that spur nearby fish to guard against attack. The new research, authors write, uncovers “a yet untested dimension of chemical communication” — heat stress.
“We found that heat-stressed zebrafish embryos release cues into the water, which then stresses other embryos that have not been exposed to heat themselves,” tweeted Katharina Wollenberg Valero, a biologist at University College Dublin and coauthor of the study.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
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