A comparative analysis of plasticity of thermal limits in porcelain crabs across latitudinal and intertidal zone clines

Stillman, Jonathon H.

doi:10.1016/j.ics.2004.09.034

Cited by 39 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…1134 species of porcelain crab, and that species (P. cinctipes) achieved this lower limit only after acclimation to 8°C (Stillman, 2004). Likewise, the spider crab Maja squinado had a lower critical temperature of −0.1°C (Frederich and Pörtner, 2000).…”

Section: The Journal Of Experimental Biologymentioning

confidence: 95%

Master of all trades: thermal acclimation and adaptation of cardiac function in a broadly distributed marine invasive species, the European green crab,Carcinus maenas

Tepolt

Somero

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

129

126

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As global warming accelerates, there is increasing concern about how ecosystems may change as a result of species loss and replacement. Here, we examined the thermal physiology of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas Linnaeus 1758), a globally invasive species, along three parallel thermal gradients in its native and invasive ranges. At each site, we assessed cardiac physiology to determine heat and cold tolerance and acclimatory plasticity. We found that, overall, the species is highly tolerant of both heat and cold, and that it survives higher temperatures than co-occurring native marine crustaceans. Further, we found that both heat and cold tolerance are plastic in response to short-term acclimation (18-31 days at either 5 or 25°C). Comparing patterns within ranges, we found latitudinal gradients in thermal tolerance in the native European range and in the invasive range in eastern North America. This pattern is strongest in the native range, and likely evolved there. Because of a complicated invasion history, the latitudinal pattern in the eastern North American invasive range may be due either to rapid adaptation post-invasion or to adaptive differences between the ancestral populations that founded the invasion. Overall, the broad thermal tolerance ranges of green crabs, which may facilitate invasion of novel habitats, derive from high inherent eurythermality and acclimatory plasticity and potentially adaptive differentiation among populations. The highly flexible physiology that results from these capacities may represent the hallmark of a successful invasive species, and may provide a model for success in a changing world. KEY WORDS: Acclimatory plasticity, Cardiac physiology, Local adaptation, Species invasion, Thermal tolerance INTRODUCTIONEnvironmental temperature exerts a pervasive influence on the physiology of ectothermic animals, from the level of molecular processes to that of broad-scale biogeographic patterning (Hochachka and Somero, 2002). As global temperatures rise, there is increasing concern about the ability of ectothermic animals to survive in their warming environments, and considerable effort is being expended to identify the physiological traits that may be of greatest importance in adapting to rising temperatures and to learn how these traits differ among species (Somero, 2010).One aspect of success in a changed thermal environment comprises a combination of broad intrinsic tolerance of acute changes in temperature and a high capacity for acclimatization (phenotypic 'plasticity') during extended exposure to a new thermal regime (Simons, 2011;Healy and Schulte, 2012). These two abilities may largely govern how eurythermal an ectothermic species is, and thus help determine its chances for success in a warming world, particularly over short time scales. RESEARCH ARTICLEStanfordBecause maintenance of broad thermal tolerance may be metabolically costly and, indeed, unnecessary for animals inhabiting narrow thermal niches, ectothermic species range from extreme eurytherms to na...

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Section: The Journal Of Experimental Biologymentioning

confidence: 95%

Master of all trades: thermal acclimation and adaptation of cardiac function in a broadly distributed marine invasive species, the European green crab,Carcinus maenas

Tepolt

Somero

2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

129

126

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“…The intertidal zone porcelain crab P. cinctipes can experience subzero temperatures in nature (Stillman and Tagmount, 2009), and has a cardiac CT min that is within 0.5°C of the freezing point of seawater when cold acclimated (Stillman, 2003;Stillman, 2004). In this study, we acclimated P. cinctipes to 8 and 18°C, temperatures that reflect variation in the thermal mean in the natural environment (Stillman and Tagmount, 2009), and that are known to elicit nearmaximal variation in cardiac thermal performance (CT max and CT min ) in this species (Stillman, 2003;Stillman, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we acclimated P. cinctipes to 8 and 18°C, temperatures that reflect variation in the thermal mean in the natural environment (Stillman and Tagmount, 2009), and that are known to elicit nearmaximal variation in cardiac thermal performance (CT max and CT min ) in this species (Stillman, 2003;Stillman, 2004). We investigated whether P. cinctipes is freeze tolerant, how the first 24h of thermal acclimation affects tolerance to supercooling, changes in cardiac transcriptome profiles that occur during the first 24h of thermal acclimation, and membrane phospholipid composition of cardiac tissues from warm-and cold-acclimated D. Ronges and others crabs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crabs were returned to the Romberg Tiburon Center, where they were maintained in recirculating seawater at 13°C for 7-10days before the start of thermal acclimation and fed frozen Cyclop-eeze copepods (Argent Laboratories, Redmond, WA, USA) daily. A temperature of 13°C reflects the seasonal average temperature for P. cinctipes (Stillman and Tagmount, 2009), and is between the warm-and cold-acclimated state for this species with respect to cardiac critical thermal maximum (CT max ) (Stillman, 2004).…”

Section: Materials and Methods Animal Collection And Maintenancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Porcelain crabs, genus Petrolisthes, present an ideal set of species that have differing thermal adaptation across latitudinal (temperate vs tropical) and vertical (intertidal vs subtidal) gradients (Stillman, 2002;Stillman, 2004;Stillman and Somero, 2000). For example, intertidal zone species are more eurytolerant and survive heat and cold thermal extremes better than sympatric subtidal species (Stillman, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in extreme cold tolerance, membrane composition and cardiac transcriptome during the first day of thermal acclimation in the porcelain crabPetrolisthes cinctipes

Ronges

Walsh

Sinclair

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYIntertidal zone organisms can experience transient freezing temperatures during winter low tides, but their extreme cold tolerance mechanisms are not known. Petrolisthes cinctipes is a temperate mid-high intertidal zone crab species that can experience wintertime habitat temperatures below the freezing point of seawater. We examined how cold tolerance changed during the initial phase of thermal acclimation to cold and warm temperatures, as well as the persistence of cold tolerance during long-term thermal acclimation. Thermal acclimation for as little as 6h at 8°C enhanced cold tolerance during a 1h exposure to -2°C relative to crabs acclimated to 18°C. Potential mechanisms for this enhanced tolerance were elucidated using cDNA microarrays to probe for differences in gene expression in cardiac tissue of warm-and cold-acclimated crabs during the first day of thermal acclimation. No changes in gene expression were detected until 12h of thermal acclimation. Genes strongly upregulated in warmacclimated crabs represented immune response and extracellular/intercellular processes, suggesting that warm-acclimated crabs had a generalized stress response and may have been remodelling tissues or altering intercellular processes. Genes strongly upregulated in cold-acclimated crabs included many that are involved in glucose production, suggesting that cold acclimation involves increasing intracellular glucose as a cryoprotectant. Structural cytoskeletal proteins were also strongly represented among the genes upregulated in only cold-acclimated crabs. There were no consistent changes in composition or the level of unsaturation of membrane phospholipid fatty acids with cold acclimation, which suggests that neither short-nor long-term changes in cold tolerance are mediated by changes in membrane fatty acid composition. Overall, our study demonstrates that initial changes in cold tolerance are likely not regulated by transcriptomic responses, but that gene-expression-related changes in homeostasis begin within 12h, the length of a tidal cycle. Supplementary material available online at

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Patterns of heart rate and cardiac pausing in unrestrained resting decapod crustaceans

McGaw

Nancollas

2021

J Exp Zool Pt A

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Measurement of heart rate (HR) has been used as an important physiological indicator in a broad range of taxa. In the present study HR patterns were measured in five species of unrestrained, resting decapod crustaceans. In addition to variation in HR among individuals, it was also very variable within an individual animal. While some of this variation was related to activity, there was also a non‐locomotory component. Unstressed, resting crabs exhibited intermittent heart activity, whereas HR in stressed crabs was more stable, suggesting differential control of HR in resting crabs. Once the animals settled in the experimental apparatus they exhibited regular and extended cardiac pauses (acardia) of 15–300‐s duration. As with HR, there was a significant variation in the frequency and length of acardic events, which were only observed in inactive crabs. Regaining of HR, following a period of acardia, was characterized by small adjustments in position and movement of the mouthparts. This rhythmic pattern, and the fact that entry into and out of acardia was not instantaneous, suggested that these events were related to release of neurohormones and their subsequent degradation in the system, rather than direct neural control of the heart. Because HR was variable and interrupted by regular periods of acardia, caution is recommended when calculating baseline levels of HR, or using HR alone as an indicator of physiological stress. Incorporating a coefficient of variation for HR and/or measuring the periods of acardia may be a more reliable indicator of physiological stress in decapod crustaceans.

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A comparative analysis of plasticity of thermal limits in porcelain crabs across latitudinal and intertidal zone clines

Cited by 39 publications

References 17 publications

Master of all trades: thermal acclimation and adaptation of cardiac function in a broadly distributed marine invasive species, the European green crab,Carcinus maenas

Master of all trades: thermal acclimation and adaptation of cardiac function in a broadly distributed marine invasive species, the European green crab,Carcinus maenas

Changes in extreme cold tolerance, membrane composition and cardiac transcriptome during the first day of thermal acclimation in the porcelain crabPetrolisthes cinctipes

Patterns of heart rate and cardiac pausing in unrestrained resting decapod crustaceans

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