Filling a metabolism data gap in marine fish reveals dual pace-of-life and reproductive strategy axes
- 1Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement
Abstract
Resting metabolic rate, the basal energy required for an organism's maintenance, is central to predicting the eco-evolutionary consequences of environmental and anthropogenic pressures on marine ectotherms. Yet, direct measurements remain extremely scarce, covering less than 1% of marine fish species. Building on the Pace Of Life Syndrome (POLS) hypothesis, which posits a positive correlation between metabolism and life-history speed, we inferred temperature- and mass-specific resting metabolic rate for 18,214 fish species (16,998 Teleostei and 1,216 Elasmobranchii). Estimates were derived from relationships with 15 functional traits and phylogeny using phylogenetic structural equation modelling, a novel approach combining phylogenetic comparative methods with structural equation models. Cross-validations indicated high predictive performance, although some clades require cautious interpretation due to limited empirical data. In line with expectations from life-history theory, ecological niche and morphology, species with the highest metabolic rates were small, narrow, shallow-bodied, and long-jawed pelagic fish with high mortality, short lifespan and rapid growth - traits typical of small epipelagics. The metabolic rate variation aligned with the slow-fast life-history continuum, supporting the POLS hypothesis, but was equally explained by reproductive strategy: highly fecund, fast species exhibited the highest metabolic rate independent of mass and temperature, whereas low-fecundity slow species had the lowest. By filling a critical physiological data gap, our dataset provides a foundation to test long-standing ecological and evolutionary hypotheses such as POLS, and offers a powerful resource to improve models of species and community responses to climate change and exploitation, ultimately supporting physiology-informed ecosystem management.
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BibTeX
@misc{beneat2026filling,
title = {{Filling a metabolism data gap in marine fish reveals dual pace-of-life and reproductive strategy axes}},
author = {M. Beneat and A. Morell and F. Moullec and N. Barrier and Y.-J. Shin and B. Ernande},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.28.755002},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.28.755002v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Filling a metabolism data gap in marine fish reveals dual pace-of-life and reproductive strategy axes
AU - M. Beneat
AU - A. Morell
AU - F. Moullec
AU - N. Barrier
AU - Y.-J. Shin
AU - B. Ernande
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.28.755002
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.28.755002v1
AB - Resting metabolic rate, the basal energy required for an organism's maintenance, is central to predicting the eco-evolutionary consequences of environmental and anthropogenic pressures on marine ectotherms. Yet, direct measurements remain extremely scarce, covering less than 1% of marine fish species. Building on the Pace Of Life Syndrome (POLS) hypothesis, which posits a positive correlation between metabolism and life-history speed, we inferred temperature- and mass-specific resting metabolic rate for 18,214 fish species (16,998 Teleostei and 1,216 Elasmobranchii). Estimates were derived from relationships with 15 functional traits and phylogeny using phylogenetic structural equation modelling, a novel approach combining phylogenetic comparative methods with structural equation models. Cross-validations indicated high predictive performance, although some clades require cautious interpretation due to limited empirical data. In line with expectations from life-history theory, ecological niche and morphology, species with the highest metabolic rates were small, narrow, shallow-bodied, and long-jawed pelagic fish with high mortality, short lifespan and rapid growth - traits typical of small epipelagics. The metabolic rate variation aligned with the slow-fast life-history continuum, supporting the POLS hypothesis, but was equally explained by reproductive strategy: highly fecund, fast species exhibited the highest metabolic rate independent of mass and temperature, whereas low-fecundity slow species had the lowest. By filling a critical physiological data gap, our dataset provides a foundation to test long-standing ecological and evolutionary hypotheses such as POLS, and offers a powerful resource to improve models of species and community responses to climate change and exploitation, ultimately supporting physiology-informed ecosystem management.
ER -