Effects of temperature on the growth of goldfish ( Carassius auratus ).

1. Effects of temperature on the growth of goldfish (Carassius auratus). Jerry Lee Allen Undergraduate Student (Biology Health Science Concentration) Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505

2. Project Summary • Objective Statement: Different factors control how much a goldfish can grow, and habitat temperature may be one of these factors. • I had two tanks in my experiment. • In one tank I had 5 fish in water which is was at an average of 25.82degrees Celsius. • In the control tank I had 5 fish in water which was at room temperature (an average of 21.08 Degrees Celsius). • The difference in the water temperature between the two tanks was approximately 4.73degrees Celsius. • I kept the rest of the variables as close as to the same as I could. • I weighed the goldfish when I first put them in the tanks and again when I completed the experiment in order to find the difference in their growth.

3. Introduction • Temperature (within the range of 20-28oC) and body size influenced growth performance with the highest specific growth rates being obtained at 28ºC (Kestemont 1995). According to Kestemont temperature is a vital element in goldfish growth. It seems as though a warmer temperature is beneficial to their growth. • It appears clearly that environmental temperature promotes growth through a direct effect on GH secretion that leads to an elevation of plasma IGFI (Gabillard 2005). Gabillard basically discovered that at higher temperatures goldfish tend to eat more and therefore grow more. • When the culture temperature was shifted from 20ºC to 35ºC and 40ºC, the growth rate was increased at 35ºC as compared with that at 20ºC, but no cell growth was observed at 40ºC (Kondo et al 2004). Kondo explains that warmer temperatures only to a certain extent promote growth in goldfish.

4. Introduction (cont.) • The population doubling time of (goldfish) cells cultured at 20 ºC, 25 ºC, 30 ºC and 35ºC were 34, 29, 17 and 14 hours, respectively (Kondo and Watabe 2004). Kondo and Watabe illustrate that warmer habitat temperatures for goldfish promote faster cellular growth. • Specific bindingof 125I-rcGH (a growth hormone) to goldfish liver membranes was a pH, time, temperature, and membrane protein dependent process (Zhang and Marchant 1996). Zhang and Marchant confirm that temperature is yet again a vital factor to take into account in the growth of goldfish.

5. Hypothesis and Null Hypothesis Statement • Objective Statement: Different factors control how much a goldfish can grow, and habitat temperature may be one of these factors. • Hypothesis Statement: Certain species of fish in the ocean vary in size in accordance to the temperature of their habitat, and goldfish may have this same trait. • Null Hypothesis: Temperature does not play a vital role in the growth in goldfish.

6. Materials • Materials: Two tanks of the same size, ten fish, water, fish food, a heater for the water, a thermometer, and a digital scale. • I weighed the goldfish when I first put them in the tanks and again when I completed the experiment in order to find the difference in their growth. • I kept a record of the temperatures of the tanks from day to day and found the average of each.

7. Methods • I used a standard t-test to find out that my null hypothesis was false. • I then used the data that I accumulated to rectify my original hypothesis. • Data Form

8. Results • According to the t-test there is more than a 99.9% chance that the two tank’s fish growth differs from one another. • The goldfish living in the warmer tank had more than twice the growth of the ones living in the room temperature water.

9. Conclusion • In fish, as in all poikilotherms, growth is strongly dependent on water temperature (Gabillard 2005). • The take home message of this experiment is that goldfish have a higher growth rate in temperatures that are about 4-5 degrees Celsius higher than room temperature.

10. Timeline • Timeline Link

11. Twelve-Month Budget • Budget Link

12. Literature Cited • Gabillard, J., Weil, C., Rescan, P., Navarro, I., Gutierrez, J., and Le Bail, P. 2005. Does the GH/IGF system mediate the effect of water temperature on fish growth? Cybium 29:107-117. • Kestemont, P. 1995. Influence of feed supply, temperature and body size on the growth of goldfish Carassius auratus larvae. Aquaculture 136:341-349. • Kondo, H., R. Harano, M. Nakaya, and S. Watabe. 2004. Characterization of goldfish heat shock protein-30 induced upon severe heat shock in cultured cells. Cell Stress and Chaperones 9:350-358. • Kondo, H., and S. Watabe. 2004. Temperature-dependent enhancement of cell proliferation and mRNA expression for type I collagen and HSP70 in primary cultured goldfish cells. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A Molecular and Integrative Physiology 138:221-228. • Zhang, Y., and T. A. Marchant. 1996. Characterization of growth hormone binding sites in the goldfish, Carassius auratus: Effects of hypophysectomy and hormone injection. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 15:157-165.

13. Thank you for your time and attention