Brief Oil Exposure Reduces Fitness in Wild Gulf of Mexico Mahi-Mahi ().

The (DWH) disaster released 3.19 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2010, overlapping the habitat of pelagic fish populations. Using mahi-mahi ()─a highly migratory marine teleost present in the GOM during the spill─as a model species, laboratory experiments demonstrate injuries to physiology and behavior following oil exposure.

Ultraviolet avoidance by embryonic buoyancy control in three species of marine fish.

Pelagic fish embryos are thought to float in or near surface waters for the majority of their development and are presumed to have little to no control over their mobility, rendering these embryos at high risk for damages associated with surface stressors such as ultraviolet radiation (UVR). We recently challenged these long-standing paradigms by characterizing a potential mechanism of stressor avoidance in early-life stage mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) in which embryos sense external cues, such as UVR, and modify their buoyancy to reduce further exposure. It is unknown whether embryos of other marine fish with pelagic spawning strategies have similar capabilities.