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This study delves deeper into the impact of environmental temperature variations on the nervous system in teleost fish. Previous research has demonstrated that exposing adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) to 18 °C and 34 °C for 4 or 21 days induces behavioural changes compared to fish kept at a control temperature of 26 °C, suggesting alterations in the nervous system. Subsequent studies revealed that these temperature conditions also modify brain protein expression, indicating potential neurotoxic effects. The primary aim of this work was to investigate the effects of prolonged exposure (21 days) to 18 °C or 34 °C on the brain lipidomes of adult zebrafish compared to a control temperature. Analysis of the brain lipidome highlighted significant alteration in the relative abundances of specific lipid molecules at 18 °C and 34 °C, confirming distinct effects induced by both tested temperatures. Exposure to 18 °C resulted in an increase in levels of phospholipids, such as phosphatidylethanolamine, alongside a general reduction in levels of sphingolipids, including sphingomyelin. Conversely, exposure to 34 °C produced more pronounced effects, with increases in levels of phosphatidylethanolamine and those of various sphingolipids such as ceramide, gangliosides, and sphingomyelin, alongside a reduction in levels of ether phospholipids, including lysophosphatidylethanolamine ether, phosphatidylethanolamine ether, and phosphatidylglycerol ether, as well as levels of glycolipids like monogalactosyldiacylglycerol. These results, when integrated with existing proteomic and behavioural data, offer new insights into the effects of thermal variations on the nervous system in teleost fish. Specifically, our proteomic and lipidomic findings suggest that elevated temperatures may disrupt mitochondrial function, increase neuronal susceptibility to oxidative stress and cytotoxicity, alter axonal myelination, impair nerve impulse transmission, hinder synapse function and neurotransmitter release, and potentially lead to increased neuronal death. These findings are particularly relevant in the fields of cell biology, neurobiology, and ecotoxicology, especially in the context of global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large number of cryptic species and extensive intraspecific phenotypic plasticity among freshwater fishes pose a challenge to the correct assessment of diversity within these taxa, which is crucial for their conservation. Recently, three different genetic lineages have been identified within the Italian endemic South European roach Sarmarutilus rubilio , a threatened species with a broad ecological niche. Using geometric morphometrics, we tested the existence of morphological differences associated with genetic common ancestry (i.e. between lineages) and/or environmental parameters. We observed streamlined body shapes in sites scarcely altered by human intervention and with fast water flow; on the contrary, we observed deeper body shapes in canals and in one reservoir with slow/still water flow. Our results suggest that morphological diversity in the South European roach is mainly a result of phenotypic plasticity in response to different environmental drivers (i.e. lotic vs. lentic hydrodynamic patterns) rather than different genetic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]