Study Reveals Surprising Reason for Fish Shrinking in Warming Waters
Originally Published 1 year ago — by Phys.org
A study led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst found no physiological evidence supporting the Gill Oxygen Limitation (GOL) theory, which suggests that fish are shrinking due to limited oxygen supply from their gills as waters warm. Long-term experiments on brook trout revealed that increased temperatures led to decreased body size, but gill surface area did not explain the change. The findings challenge widely cited model projections of future global fisheries yields and highlight the need for interdisciplinary studies to understand the mechanisms governing fish size in a warming world.