The effect of acute warming and thermal acclimation on maximum heart rate of the common killifish Fundulus heteroclitus.

Common killifish Fundulus heteroclitus were acclimated to ecologically relevant temperatures (5, 15 and 33°C) and their maximum heart rate (f _Hmax ) was measured at each acclimation temperature during an acute warming protocol. Acclimation to 33°C increased peak f _Hmax by up to 32% and allowed the heart to beat rhythmically at a temperature 10°C higher when compared with acclimation to 5°C. Independent of acclimation temperature, peak f _Hmax occurred about 3°C cooler than the temperature that first produced cardiac arrhythmias. Thus, when compared with previously published values for the critical thermal maximum of F. heteroclitus, the temperature for peak f _Hmax was cooler and the temperature that first produced cardiac arrhythmias was similar to these critical thermal maxima. The considerable thermal plasticity of f _Hmax demonstrated in the present study is entirely consistent with eurythermal ecology of killifish, as shown previously for another eurythermal fish Gillichthys mirabilis.
(© 2019 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.)