PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Court, Mélanie
AU  - Macau, Marta
AU  - Ranucci, Maddalena
AU  - Repolho, Tiago
AU  - Lopes, Vanessa Madeira
AU  - Rosa, Rui
AU  - Paula, José Ricardo
TI  - Oxygen loss compromises the survival and cognition of a coastal cephalopod
AID  - 10.1101/2023.06.03.543560
DP  - 2023 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2023.06.03.543560
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/06/06/2023.06.03.543560.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/06/06/2023.06.03.543560.full
AB  - The ocean is undergoing deoxygenation and the spread of hypoxic areas. Ocean deoxygenation and standing levels of hypoxia are shrinking fundamental niches, particularly in coastal areas, yet documented repercussions on species development and behavior are limited. Here, we tackled the impacts of deoxygenation (7 mg O2 L-1), mild hypoxia (nocturnal 5 mg O2 L-1), and severe hypoxia (2 mg O2 L-1) on cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) development (hatching success, development time, mantle length) and behavior, i.e., ability to learn (associative-and socially), to camouflage, and to explore its surroundings spatially. We found that hypoxia yielded lower survival rates, smaller body sizes and inhibited predatory (increased latency to attack the prey) and anti-predator (camouflage) behaviors. Acute and chronic exposure to low oxygen produced similar effects on cognition (inability to socially learn, increased open-field activity levels, no changes in thigmotaxis). It is thus expected that, although cuttlefish can withstand oxygen limitation to a certain degree, expanding hypoxic zones will diminish current habitat suitability.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.