Digestion in sea urchin larvae impaired under ocean acidification

Abstract Doo, S. S., Dworjanyn, S. A., Foo, S. A., Soars, N. A., and Byrne, M. 2012. Impacts of ocean acidification on development of the meroplanktonic larval stage of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 460–464. The effects of near-future ocean acidification/hypercapnia on larval development were investigated in the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii, a habitat-modifying species from eastern Australia. Decreased pH (−0.3 to −0.5 pH units) or increased pCO2 significantly reduced the percentage of normal larvae. Larval growth was negatively impacted with smaller larvae in the pH 7.6/1800 ppm treatments. The impact of acidification on development was similar on days 3 and 5, indicating deleterious effects early in development. On day 3, increased abnormalities in the pH 7.6/1600 ppm treatment were seen in aberrant prism stage larvae and arrested/dead embryos. By day 5, echinoplutei in this treatment had smaller arm rods. Observations of smaller larvae in C. rodgersii have significant implications for this species because larval success may be a potential bottleneck for persistence in a changing ocean.

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Development of the sea urchin Heliocidaris crassispina from Hong Kong is robust to ocean acidification and copper contamination

Aquatic Toxicology ◽

10.1016/j.aquatox.2018.09.006 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 205 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Narimane Dorey ◽

Elizaldy Maboloc ◽

Kit Yu Karen Chan

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Ocean Acidification ◽

Sea Urchin ◽

Copper Contamination

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In situ developmental responses of tropical sea urchin larvae to ocean acidification conditions at naturally elevated p CO 2 vent sites

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2016.1506 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 283 (1843) ◽

pp. 20161506 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Miles D. Lamare ◽

Michelle Liddy ◽

Sven Uthicke

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Ocean Acidification ◽

Sea Urchin ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Abnormal Development ◽

Life History Stage ◽

Larval Size ◽

Laboratory Findings ◽

Developmental Responses

Laboratory experiments suggest that calcifying developmental stages of marine invertebrates may be the most ocean acidification (OA)-sensitive life-history stage and represent a life-history bottleneck. To better extrapolate laboratory findings to future OA conditions, developmental responses in sea urchin embryos/larvae were compared under ecologically relevant in situ exposures on vent-elevated p CO 2 and ambient p CO 2 coral reefs in Papua New Guinea. Echinometra embryos/larvae were reared in meshed chambers moored in arrays on either venting reefs or adjacent non-vent reefs. After 24 and 48 h, larval development and morphology were quantified. Compared with controls (mean pH (T) = 7.89–7.92), larvae developing in elevated p CO 2 vent conditions (pH (T) = 7.50–7.72) displayed a significant reduction in size and increased abnormality, with a significant correlation of seawater pH with both larval size and larval asymmetry across all experiments. Reciprocal transplants (embryos from vent adults transplanted to control conditions, and vice versa ) were also undertaken to identify if adult acclimatization can translate resilience to offspring (i.e. transgenerational processes). Embryos originating from vent adults were, however, no more tolerant to reduced pH. Sea temperature and chlorophyll- a concentrations (i.e. larval nutrition) did not contribute to difference in larval size, but abnormality was correlated with chlorophyll levels. This study is the first to examine the response of marine larvae to OA scenarios in the natural environment where, importantly, we found that stunted and abnormal development observed in situ are consistent with laboratory observations reported in sea urchins, in both the direction and magnitude of the response.

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