Abstract:The present study used Nibea albiflora as an indicator species to evaluate the effects of climate change on the early life history of marine fishes. Based on the forecast of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided by the Representative Concentration Path (RCP), the emission of greenhouse gases would cause a significant increase in the temperature with a considerable decrease in pH of the oceans by 2100. We compared the growth, development, and mortality of N. albiflora larvae cultured at four different temperatures (24.0℃, 26.0℃, 26.6℃, and 28.0℃) and three different pH (7.80, 7.73, and 7.49). The different temperatures and pH were selected based on the forecast of IPCC in 2100 under two scenarios: scenario 1 with reduced emission of greenhouse gases (RCP 2.6) and scenario 2 with high level of greenhouse gas emission (RCP 8.5). The results showed that it takes approximately 25 d for N. albiflora larvae to become juveniles when cultured at 24℃, whereas it takes just 22 d for those cultured at 26℃~28℃. Furthermore, N. albiflora larvae exhibited higher growth rates at higher temperatures. The mortality of N. albiflora larvae did not show a consistent trend with increase in the surrounding temperature, with the highest and lowest values at 26.6℃ and 26.0℃, respectively. In addition, N. albiflora larvae tended to have a higher mortality at a lower pH, with 3.9%, 19.4%, and 21.7% mortality at pH 7.80, 7.73, and 7.49, respectively. On the contrary, ocean acidification did not have significant effects on the growth of N. albiflora larvae. The present study also predicted that the growth rate and mortality would be 0.71 mm/d and 31.1%, respectively, for N. albiflora larvae under RCP 2.6, and the growth rate would increase to 0.76 mm/d with a 23.9% decrease in mortality under RCP 8.5 by 2100.
