Physiological and behavioral flexibility to an acute CO₂ challenge, within and between genotypes in rainbow trout

Adaptive capacities, governing the ability of animals to cope with an environmental stressor, have been demonstrated to be strongly dependent upon genetic factors. Two isogenic lines of rainbow trout, previously described for their sensitivity and resilience to an acute confinement challenge, were used in the present study to investigate whether adaptive capacities remain consistent when fish are exposed to a different type of challenge. For this purpose, the effects of a 4-hour hypercapnia (CO₂ increase) challenge at concentrations relevant in aquaculture conditions are described for the two isogenic lines. Oxygen consumption, cortisol release, group dispersion and group swimming activity were measured before, during and after the challenge. Sensitivity and resilience for each measure were extracted from temporal responses and analyzed using multivariate statistics. The two fish lines displayed significant differences in their cortisol response, translating differences in the stress axis sensitivity to the stressor. On the contrary, both lines showed, for other measures, similar temporal patterns across the study. Notable within line variability in the stress response was observed, despite identical genome between fish. The results are discussed in the context of animal robustness.