Daily rhythms of blood glucose differ in diurnal and nocturnal European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) undergoing seasonal phase inversions

Abstract

Sea bass change their feeding rhythms from diurnal to nocturnal in winter, returning to diurnal feeding in spring. Despite behavioral data, the physiological changes that take place during such changes remain unexplored. In this paper, blood glucose rhythms of European sea bass with diurnal/nocturnal self-feeding rhythms were investigated during phase inversions of their feeding behavior (in winter and spring) when both diurnal and nocturnal fish coexist. Blood glucose showed daily variations in both seasons (ANOVA, p < 0.03), fitting a cosine function (COSINOR, p < 0.05) in all cases, except in diurnal fish in spring. The average blood glucose levels of nocturnal fish in winter (2.67 ± 0.09 mmol/l, mean ± SEM) were significantly (t test, p < 0.01) higher than in spring (2.20 ± 0.08 mmol/l), while they were similar (~2.25 mmol/l) in diurnal fish in both seasons. These findings revealed for the first time insights into the seasonal physiological changes that accompany changes in behavioral rhythms in diurnal and nocturnal sea bass.