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Open Access CC BY V4.0
Journal article
Marine iguanas have lower metabolic rates during El Ninõ
The Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol.228(17), pp.1-6
2025
PMCID: PMC12450463
PMID: 40836906
Abstract
The Galápagos marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), the world's only marine lizard, feeds predominantly on algae. Owing to warming waters and reduced upwelling, algal abundance is reduced during El Niño events, causing high iguana mortality. During such periods, adult iguanas may shrink in size, a compelling phenomenon that has been suggested as an adaptation to reduce energetic needs. However, shifts in energy consumption have never been tested directly. We measured the body condition and metabolic rates of marine iguanas during an El Niño year and the subsequent neutral year. During El Niño, body mass relative to length was 17% lower, girth relative to length was 12% lower, and resting metabolic rates were 20% lower. This supports the hypothesis that marine iguanas partly offset the adverse effect of El Niño by an active response aimed at reducing their energy consumption, complementary to the energy-saving effect of body size reduction. Future ocean warming could force this endemic species to resort to such strategies increasingly often, and will likely exacerbate the already-high mortality rates caused by these events.
Details
- Title
- Marine iguanas have lower metabolic rates during El Ninõ
- Authors
- Shahar Dubiner (Corresponding Author) - Tel Aviv UniversityJuan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez - University of the Sunshine CoastGregory A. Lewbart - Universidad San Francisco de QuitoKenneth J. Lohmann - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillMaximilian Hirschfeld - James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AustraliaDaniela Alarcón-Ruales - University of the Sunshine CoastThara Carolina Cango Rivadeneira - Universidad San Francisco de QuitoAndrea Loyola - Galapagos National ParkShai Meiri - Tel Aviv UniversityEran Levin - Tel Aviv University
- Publication details
- The Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol.228(17), pp.1-6
- Publisher
- The Company of Biologists Ltd.
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1242/jeb.250907
- ISSN
- 1477-9145
- PMID
- 40836906; PMC12450463
- Copyright note
- © 2025. Published by The Company of Biologists. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
- Data Availability
- All the data used in this paper are available in Table S1.
- Grant note
- S.D. was partly supported by the Ari Kushner Dunietz Scholarship for Galápagos Research and the Azrieli Graduate Studies Fellowship. This research received support from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the IslaVet-Galápagos Program.Wearealsogratefultothefollowing institutions for their generous funding and assistance: USFQ Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales (COCIBA), Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), and the Galápagos Science Center (GSC).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991261895902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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