List of sessions

This session will celebrate the research career of John Steffensen (Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen).  John has performed seminal work in the general field of fish respiratory and cardiovascular physiology for almost 40 years, first publishing in 1981.  His research has been characterised by highly innovative technical solutions to investigate such diverse but important questions as estimating costs of ventilation; evaluating swimming performance and kinematics; defining thermal preference and how this relates to size and dissolved oxygen levels; exploring how physiology links to behaviour in a broad sense including in schools of fish; how to age elasmobranchs; the list goes on and on.  Many fish physiologists across the world use techniques and instruments designed by John, especially for respirometry, swimming performance (the Steffensen-type swim tunnel) and habitat selection (Steffensen-type choice box).  John has very broad international collaborations dating back through his whole career, and many of these friends and colleagues will participate in this session.

Confirmed speakers: 

Gars, bowfins, sturgeon and paddlefish are some of the primitive fishes that offer unique insight into the evolution of physiological systems in the more derived fishes. Often described as ‘living fossils’ this group of fishes have captivated humans for centuries. However, the life history of these fishes has also made them vulnerable to environmental change leading to a threatened or endangered conservation status for many pf these species. This symposium gathers a group of international researchers investigating varied physiological mechanisms in this group of fishes.

Cichlids represent one of the most speciose families of fish, which embodies the most extensive and rapid adaptive radiation during vertebrate evolution. Moreover, cichlids comprise many economically important species, including a large number of ornamental species and commercial aquaculture species, in particular tilapias. Tilapias are a group of more than 80 species within the family Cichlidae. Tilapia species have a repertoire of genotypes and associated phenotypes that has rendered them popular for aquaculture globally. They have emerged as important research models for understanding the physiology, genetics and evolutionary mechanisms that enable adaptive radiation to extreme and fluctuating environments. The Environmental Physiology of Cichlids symposium aims to present and discuss recent advances and the current state of knowledge in this field, emphasizing current research approaches that link genomes to phenomes.

It is widely recognized that exposure to stress inhibits food intake and suppresses growth in fish, yet the physiological mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood.  This symposium at the 14^th ICBF builds on directions that emerged from the session on “Chronic stress in wild and laboratory fish: Evidence and mechanisms” that took place at the 13^th ICBF meeting in Calgary, where growth suppression by chronic stress was a frequent theme.  In addition, it aims to incorporate new directions that are expanding the discussion surrounding stress and its impacts on food intake and growth in fish, including effects of stress on the microbiome, regulatory roles of microRNAs in metabolism and growth, and transgenerational effects of stress and early life adversity as factors driving phenotypic plasticity.

There have been many recent advances in both our understanding of fish ion transport mechanisms and acid-base physiology and how they are regulated in fish.  This symposium will bring together top researchers in the broad field of ion and of acid-base regulation in fishes to discuss current topics and future directions for the field. We will have sections that consider new advances in our understanding of: a) endocrine and mechanistic control of ion regulation, b) smoltification, and c) acid-base regulation, both in relation to basic and applied research including climate change and conservation physiology. The symposium will highlight researchers using whole animal approaches and those following more cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these regulatory events.  We will bring together speakers interested in a holistic approach to understanding the mechanisms involved in alteration and regulation of ion and acid-base status in fishes and the implications of this for whole animal function and responses to altered environments.

In recent years, this symposium has become one of the main venues for the field of ion and acid-base regulation in fishes, attracting scientists from all over the world on a regular basis and serving as a focal point for international exchange of ideas.  Following from very successful symposia in Vancouver, Manaus, St John’s, Portland, Barcelona, Madison, Edinburgh, San Marcos and most recently Calgary, we continue on and expand this tradition at ICBF2020.

For almost every biological system studied to date, basic physiological principles differ fundamentally across the life stages of fishes. Form and function of embryonic (unhatched) and larval (post-hatch) fish place numerous constraints on physiological systems, such that basic principles derived from studies on adults cannot be easily applied to understand early life physiology. For example, among many other physiological features that differ from adult stages, early life stages of fish lack a functional gill and utilize cutaneous surfaces for physiological exchanges, do not require an oxygen carrying molecule to meet metabolic demands, and obtain nutrients endogenously from yolk stores. Therefore, there is an important need to understand how these physiological systems of embryonic and larval fishes respond to changes in the environment and whether environmental changes influence the developmental trajectory of these systems (plasticity).

Our symposium includes speakers working in several different areas focusing specifically on early life and development. We feel that this symposium will provide an opportunity to discover potential parallels in the development of physiological systems in fishes and to synthesize the challenges that lie ahead for fish developing in rapidly changing environments.

Confirmed speakers :

Andrew Esbaugh, University of Texas at Austin, (USA) "Mechanisms of ion and acid-base regulation in early life stage red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)"

Katie Gilmour, University of Ottawa, (Canada) "Cross-talk between the stress axis and ionoregulatory function in developing zebrafish (Danio rerio)"

Pung-Pung Hwang, Academia Sinica, (Taiwan) "Hormonal control of calcium uptake in larval fishes"

Marie-Andrée Akimenko, University of Ottawa, (Canada) "Fin regeneration in larval zebrafish"

Warren Burggren, University of North Texas, (USA) "Critical windows and developmental plasticity in fish exposed to hypoxia in early life"

Michael Jonz, University of Ottawa, (Canada) "Ontogeny of oxygen sensing in zebrafish (Danio rerio)"

Milica Mandic, University of California Davis, (USA) "Cardiac aerobic capacity in juvenile notothenioid fishes"

Kevin Pan, University of Ottawa, (Canada) Merkel-like cells as putative O2 chemoreceptors in larval zebrafish

Bernd Pelster, University of Innsbruck, (Austria) "Hypoxia inducible factor isoforms and the circadian clock in developing zebrafish"

Pat Wright, University of Guelph, (Canada) "Development and metabolism of terrestrially deposited embryos of the mangrove rivulus Kryptolebias marmoratus"

Martin Grosell, University of Miami, (USA) "Is impaired cardiovascular function in oil exposed fish larvae explaining changes in nitrogenous waste excretion"

Philip Munday, James Cook University, (Austria) "Swimming performance of fish developing under climate change conditions"

Antarctic fishes have undergone adaptive radiation in a constant low temperature environment and acquired specializations highly adapted to the specificities of their special environment. As climate change presses, the new environmental conditions will change ecosystems and test the limits of tolerance of these fishes. This symposium will present ongoing research on the physiology of Antarctic fishes.

Confirmed speakers:

The Burbot Lota lota is the only member of the cod family (Gadidae) that lives exclusively in freshwater and it is one of only two freshwater fishes that have a circumpolar distribution.  Burbot are benthic predators; in some systems they are a top predator.  However, the overall lack of commercial and sport interest in burbot has undoubtedly contributed to their being ignored or regarded as a “trash” fish by some management agencies.  As a result, burbot population dynamics are poorly described and in many waters they are lacking in comprehensive management.  Although burbot are widespread, there are many populations that have been extirpated, endangered, or are in serious decline.  This symposium will contain studies on the biology, ecology, management, and culture of burbot.  Of special interest will be (1) studies on re-establishing extirpated burbot populations and rehabilitating populations that are imperilled; (2) life-history studies of burbot, particularly of juvenile and larval stages; (3) bioenergetics and population dynamics studies; and (4) commercial and management applications.  The ICBF has been site for numerous International Burbot Symposia, the 14^th ICBF will provide an opportunity to welcome the strong contingent of European burbot researchers who were unable to travel to San Marcos, TX, for the 6th International Burbot Symposium, for exchange of ideas with North American burbot researchers

Animals have to balance attention, inhibition of active behavior and cognitive flexibility via internal and external feedback in order to cope with an ever-changing environment. The brain is the control centre for all these processes and neural systems have been found to be highly conserved within vertebrates. Even though considerable advances have been made in the field of neuroscience, there is still a lot that is unknown regarding the central nervous system and its regulation of physiological and behavioral processes. Increased knowledge in this topic is not only important in terms of fundamental science, but it is also important from an applied perspective, for example in the development of new medical treatments. In this context, recent years have seen a major increase in the use of fish as comparative animal models in the study of neurobiological function, particularly zebrafish.

There has been increased interest in understanding the neurobiology and behavior of teleost models but large gaps in understanding remain, regarding how specific brain regions regulate physiology and behavior. Certain species are highly studied, for example zebrafish in the study of neurobiological function and biomedical research. Other species, such as salmonids and cichlids, display immense variability in genetic composition, life history, and a range of phenotypic traits, and are excellent raw material to study ecological and evolutionary processes. Hence, the ecological and evolutionary background for behavioral variation is best known in some species but tools to understand proximate molecular-genetic mechanisms and neurobiological function are best developed in others. Filling this vast knowledge gap will require interdisciplinary researchers to come together and exchange ideas.

Our aim with this symposium is to integrate ethologists, physiologists, ecologists, neurobiologists and scientists conducting biomedical research on teleost fish as animal models. We anticipate that this session will promote interdisciplinary collaborations and expand networks within all these research fields. 

Confirmed speakers: 

Allan Kalueff (China & Russia): Zebrafish and major neurobehavioral domains: translational insights for CNS disease modeling.

Svante Winberg (Sweden): Zebrafish as a model to study within-individual and among-individual behavioral variation - effects of genes and environment.

Hans Hofmann (USA): Evolutionary Neuroscience of Social Behavior in a Cichlid Fish.

Celia Schunter (Hong Kong) Neuromolecular processes to rapid environmental change.

Pradeep Lal (Norway & Japan): Genetic identification of the neuronal circuits essential for fear conditioning.

Catherine Dermon (Greece): Fish as pharmacological models of social dysfunction: the autism spectrum.

Erik Höglund (Norway): Behavioral and neuroendocrine proxies of social stress in farmed fish.

Climate change has been gradually altering hydrologic cycles and warming aquatic environments. These climatic trends are likely to continue for the foreseeable future and will create stressors for many native species, in particular cold-water fish species. By combining innovative telemetry techniques with molecular studies such as e.g., transcriptomics to characterize changes in gene expression occurring in wild fish, we can study how environmental characteristics of fish habitats influence fish physiology and movement in the wild. We are interested in symposium participants who combine telemetry with biopsy sampling (e.g., gill tissue, muscle, blood) to empirically link physiological, molecular, and genetic patterns with survival and fitness. This symposium will foster dialog between researchers and managers involved in the conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat about how to apply findings of these studies to concrete management actions.

Confirmed speakers: 

Gustav Hellström (Sweden), Aaron Fisk (Canada), Graham Raby (Canada), Sarah Larocque (Canada), David Patterson (Canada), Jean-Sebastian Moore (Canada), Philip Harrison (Canada)

The session objectives are to bring together junior to established researchers in the field of fish sensory biology to link signals (sensory input from various modes) to receivers (molecular level and above) in order to understand the future of fish populations in a changing environment. This will be the fifth offering of this successful symposium.  In the first two offerings, the majority of the presentations was on the sense of olfaction, and we honored researchers that were seminal in this area.  In the third, we had examples of various senses, though not all.  In the fourth offering, we highlighted the integration of senses.  In this offering at ICBF2020, we plan to focus on information disruption from human activities.

Confirmed speakers: 

Jai Tiarks (USA), Phil Munday (Australia), Gabrielle Gerlach (Germany), Sigrun Korsching (Germany), Sara Ferrando (Italy), Chase Williams (USA), Evan Gallagher (USA), Paul Hoppe (USA), Barb Zielinski (Canada), Mary Moser (USA), Andrew Dittman (USA), Keith Tierney (Canada), Suzanne Gray (USA)

Fish often cope with highly variable environments on a daily or seasonal basis. Early development in fluctuating or extreme environments can lead to variation in adult phenotypes (developmental plasticity) that helps prepare fish for future environmental conditions. Adult fish may also have highly flexible phenotypes that allow them to acclimatize to environmental perturbations and shift their range of tolerance. Why are some species highly plastic and others are not? What mechanisms underlie such plasticity? What fish genes, proteins, cells, tissues, organs and behaviours show the greatest plasticity? Contrasting and comparing flexible responses in a wide range of species under a variety of environmental conditions will lead to an enhanced understanding of the capacity of fish to cope with change

As global change accelerates, it is crucial to understand how species will respond to the environmental challenges. To get a clear picture on how populations will change, we need to consider intraspecific physiological responses towards diverse stressors, in terms of their energy metabolism, oxidative stress or immune system. Within a population, some individuals will be more resistant and resilient then others. Still little is known about how individuals within fish species vary and change according to environmental stressors experienced. The question remains what are the underlying mechanisms involved and that contribute to the observed diverse intraspecific responses in tolerance. Understanding of the underlying processes involved in the persistence of intraspecific variation is important, as it may indicate that there might be functional trade-offs, such as that being tolerant does not necessary give an individual some advantages but might be linked to costs as well. However, on the other hand if environmental stressors provide fitness advantages to specific tolerance phenotypes, then this may change the dynamic and nature of the exposed populations.

Confirmed speakers : 

Trish Schulte (CANADA) and Tommy Norin (DENMARK)

In general, fishes are distributed and adapted on the planet according to latitude, strongly related to temperature, and insulation. Tropical fishes are restricted to a specific area of the globe and inhabit environments, such as coral reefs; marine and freshwaters; large and deep lakes; waters of different  characteristics – from acidic to alkaline, from hypoxic to hyperoxic, from thermally stable to unstable habitats, and others. The more we know these species, the more we learn that much more is yet to be described for fish inhabiting these dynamic and challenging environments. This symposium has been held at each ICBF since 1996 and will, once again, consider the fantastic diversity of tropical fish emphasizing their abilities, from behavior to molecular level, to face their extreme environments.

Confirmed speakers:

Dal Val (Brazil), Bernd Pelster (Austria), Bernardo Baldisserotto (Brazil), Chris Wood (Canada), Daiani Kochhann (Brazil), Juan Mancera (Spain), Marc Poilhy (France), Thais Billalba (Brazil), Vera Val (Brazil)

Climate disruption and other anthropogenic factors are altering fish habitats across the globe. Pristine water bodies from the tropics to the poles from small creeks to large rivers and even the sea floor are being impacted. In addition to increased temperature and decreased pH and [O2], other environmental processes such as floods, sea level increases, UV incidence and others are imposing new biological demands on fish. How fish respond physiologically and behaviorally to these changes will determine which fishes survive the opening of this new geological age, the Anthropocene. Many different approaches have been used to analyze this issue and are contributing to a myriad of new revelations concerning the biology of fish now and into the future. This symposium will feature analyses of fish physiological responses to perceived future environmental perturbations at all levels of biological organization. By combining studies of whole animals in natural environments responding to recent environmental changes, laboratory experiments under forecasted future environments with cellular and molecular approaches all focusing on the future world, it is hoped that insight concerning the capacity of fish to respond to climate change and the mechanisms whereby they do so will emerge from this symposium. We welcome everyone interested in sharing their findings, questions and suggestions about this current hot topic in fish biology.

Aquatic environments sustain diverse habitats for fish, but are under continued pressure from effluent discharge, atmospheric fallout, pesticides, and antifouling agents. Input of these contaminants, as well as re-introduction from secondary sources, has had subtle, but dramatic impacts on fish. Understanding the underlying routes of exposure and mechanisms of toxicity in fish, on all levels of biological organisation, is vital to protect vulnerable species that inhabit key positions in aquatic ecosystems. This symposium provides a multidisciplinary platform for researchers, particularly students, to present their work on mechanisms of physiological impairment, comparative toxicology and ecotoxicological biomarkers of established and emerging contaminants.

This symposium will focus on three areas of sex determination, neuroendocrine control of reproduction, and gametogenesis.  The mechanisms underlying control of sex determination, differentiation and reproduction in fishes are extremely diverse and multifactorial.  The complexity is the result extreme diversity of gonadal differentiation in fishes that include gonochoristic species which develop as either male or female as well as hermaphroditic species that change sex from male to female (protandrous) or females to male (protogynous). In addition, the occurrence of polyploidy is common, and many species of fish contain chromosomes beyond the normal set of two. Thus, isoforms of various hormones are present in fishes resulting in greater degrees of compensation in terms of hormonal control of reproduction.

The First sub session will cover mechanisms of sex determination genetically and by environmental factors. The second sub session will focus on multihormonal control of brain-pituitary gonadal axis. The third session will cover mechanisms of gametogenesis in both male and female fishes. 

Confirmed speakers : 

Sylvie Dufour (BOREA, CNRS-MNHN, France), John Chang (University of Alberta, Canada), Marc Vandeputte (GABI, INRAE, France), Julien Bobe (LPGP, INRAE, France) 

Topics covered will include how the environment, fish tissues, and associated pathways act and interact to regulate growth and metabolism. Emphasis will be on hormones and factors that influence tissue growth and metabolic processes, including relationships with behavior and environment as they affect food intake and nutrient partitioning.

Confirmed speakers : 

Joaquin Gutierrez (Spain), John Chang (Canada), Jose Luis Soengas (Spain), Divya Lekha (India), Ayelen Blanco (Spain), Anderson Wong (Hong Kong), Encarni Capilla (Spain), Isabel Navarro (Spain), Erin Legacki (USA), Beth Cleveland (USA), Yass Kobayashi (USA), Brian Ott (USA), Brian Small (USA), Brian Peterson (USA), Suraj Unniappan (Canada), Yuandeng Yue (China), Guillaume Morin (France), Thérèse Callet (France), Stéphane Panserat (France), Iban Seiliez (France)

Increased connectivity of surface waters and climate change, as well as the hobby fish industry and the desire for recreational fishing opportunities, has resulted in a proliferation of invasive fish species in both freshwater and marine environments. A key to predicting, preventing and controlling invasive fish species is to develop a better of understanding their physiology. This session will comprise presentations from across the globe to discuss our current understanding of the physiology and ecology of invasive fishes. Themes to be addressed will include: (i) the types of aquatic ecosystems that are vulnerable to invasions, (ii) physiological features that are common in successful invaders, (iii) mechanisms and routes of invasion, (iv) surveillance, detection and prevention of invasions, (v) impacts on indigenous species and aquatic ecosystems, and (vi) characterizing and exploiting specific physiological vulnerabilities to mitigate or control invasive species. Presentations will address potential benefits and pitfalls of population control or eradication campaigns, including use of targeted fisheries, chemicals, or mechanical or acoustic barriers, as wells as the options of using biological features as weapons. The potential of novel genetic control technologies including daughterless technology or Crispr-cas9 as a means to alter the physiology of potential invaders, will be discussed.

Confirmed speakers : 

David McCauley (USA), Jane Behrens (Denmark),Paolo Domenici (Italy), Margaret Docker (CAN), Colin Garroway (CAN), Jonathan Wilson (CAN), Filipe Ribeiro (Portugal), Ken Jeffries (CAN), Mike Lawrence (CAN), Brittney Borowiec (CAN), Pedro Miguel Guerreiro Da Costa Guerreiro (Portugal)

This classic symposium on stress in fish at the ICBF focuses on two main aspects: stress signalling and stress adaptation. Presentations will highlight the novel mechanism(s) from molecular and physiological responses to behaviour enabling fish to cope with stressors. Also, the techniques and methodology used to elucidate these biological mechanisms, including advances in genomics, proteomics, interactomics, knockout and CRISPR technologies will be discussed. We envision that this fundamental work will contain highlights from the perspective of aquaculture, environmental monitoring and biomedicine, resulting in a symposium that will underscore the versatile and dynamic nature of stress research in fish.

Potential speakers include: Bob Dores, Thomas Dickmeis, Marcel Schaaf, Katie Gilmour, Nick Bernier, Carl Schreck, Russ Borski, Yan Menningan, Paul Craig, Christian Tudorache, Gert Flik, Michael Pavlidis, Juan Valdez, Magnus Gorissen, Oyvind Overli, Patrick Prunet, Luis Vargas-Chacoff, Stefan Winberg, Marco Vindas, Weiqun Lu, Genciana Terova.

Air-breathing is widespread among fishes, having evolved independently numerous times across various lineages. The mechanisms by which fishes extract oxygen from air are extremely varied, and the study of air-breathing fishes has provided great insight into vertebrate respiratory physiology and evolution. Less-well understood are the ecophysiological consequences of air-breathing. Although air-breathing allows fishes to access oxygen-rich air, it comes with potential ecological costs. It is also largely unknown how environmental change will affect the behaviour and physiology of air-breathing fishes. This session will explore these issues by bringing together researchers that examine the physiology, behavioural ecology, and evolution of air-breathing fishes.