Mesothermic fishes face high fuel demands and overheating risk in warming oceans

Payne, NL, Snelling, EP, Peralta-Maraver, I, Cade, DE, Chapple, TK, McInturf, AG, Watanabe, YY, Sims, DW and Queiroz, N 2026 Mesothermic fishes face high fuel demands and overheating risk in warming oceans. Science, 392 (6795). 301-305. 10.1126/science.adt2981

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Abstract/Summary

Body size and temperature set metabolic rates and the pace of life, yet our understanding of the energetics of large fishes is uncertain, especially of warm-bodied mesotherms, which can heavily influence marine food webs. We developed an approach to estimate metabolic heat production in fishes, revealing how routine energy expenditure scales with size and temperature from 1-milligram larvae up to 3-tonne megaplanktivorous sharks. We found that mesotherms use approximately four times more energy than ectotherms use and identified a scaling mismatch in which rates of heat production increase faster than heat loss as body size increases, with larger fish becoming increasingly warm bodied. This scaling imbalance creates an overheating predicament for large mesotherms, helping to explain their cooler biogeographies. Contemporary mesotherms face high fuel demands and overheating risks, which is a concern given their disproportionate demise during prior climate shifts

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Additional Keywords:	mesotherm, overheating, climate change, metabolic heat production
Subjects:	Marine Sciences
Divisions:	Marine Biological Association of the UK > Ocean Biology
Depositing User:	Ms Kristina Hixon
Date made live:	01 Jun 2026 08:06
Last Modified:	01 Jun 2026 08:06
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/10619

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