Influence of Early Environmental Conditions upon Larval and Juvenile Marine Fish Physiology and Performance

Contemporary environmental trends are impacting the functioning and productivity of numerous marine coastal ecosystems, with perceived socio-economic consequences. In order to reduce the treat to ecosystems’ services and in particular the fisheries, there is a need to improve current predicting ability with regard to the capacity of fish species to respond to environmental challenges. Two main responses are classically recognized, the evolution of populations by natural selection and phenotypic plasticity by which individuals physiologically, biochemically and/or behaviorally adjust to the new conditions. It is generally understood that whereas the former response allows adaption to long term environmental changes, the latter involves functional regulations and tradeoffs designed to respond to acute but spatially and/or temporally limited environmental fluctuations. In this context, one could readily get to the conclusion that fish are poorly equipped to respond to ongoing alteration in marine systems. We will argue that the environmental influence upon larval ontogenesis and development is strategically providing a third set of means by which fish population can respond quickly to long term environmental trends. We will document the ecological value of these early environmental influences upon life history trajectories and their contribution to fish response to present global change.