Pre-hatching seawater pCO2 affects development and survival of zoea stages of Arctic spider crab Hyas araneus

Abstract

The sensitivity of marine crustaceans to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions and the associated acidification of the oceans may be less than that of other, especially lower, invertebrates. However, effects on critical transition phases or carry-over effects between life stages have not been comprehensively explored. Here we report the impact of elevated partial pressure of CO 2 (pCO 2) values (3100 µatm) in seawater on Hyas araneus during the last 2 wk of their embryonic development (pre-hatching phase) and during development while in the consecutive zoea I and zoea II larval stages (post-hatching phase). We measured oxygen consumption, dry weight, developmental time and mortality in zoea I to assess changes in performance. Feeding rates and survival under starvation were investigated at different temperatures to detect differences in thermal sensitivities of zoea I and zoea II larvae depending on pre-hatch history. When embryos were preexposed to elevated pCO 2 during maternal care, mortality increased about 60% under continued CO 2 exposure during the zoea I phase. The larvae that moulted into zoea II displayed a developmental delay by about 20 d compared to larvae exposed to control pCO 2 during embryonic and zoeal phases. Elevated pCO 2 caused a reduction in zoea I dry weight and feeding rates, while survival of the starved larvae was not affected by seawater CO 2 concentration. In conclusion, CO 2 effects on egg masses under maternal care carried over to the first larval stages of crustaceans and reduced their survival and development to levels below those previously reported in studies exclusively focussing on acute pCO 2 effects on the larval stages.

Effects of Elevated pCO2 on the Survival and Growth of Portunus trituberculatus

“…Our results showed that OA has a mixed effect on swimming crabs, with increased survival and retarded growth. The negative effect on growth is in line with findings published for other crab species such as larvae of H. araneus ( Walther et al, 2010 ; Schiffer et al, 2013 , 2014 ; Wang et al, 2018 ), Paralithodes camtschaticus , and Chionoecetes bairdi ( Long et al, 2013a , b ), as well as embryos of Petrolisthes cinctipes ( Carter et al, 2013 ; Ceballos-Osuna et al, 2013 ). Such a consensus between studies performed on different species, at different stages of development and with p CO 2 ranging from 710 to 3100 μatm, strongly supports crab sensitivity to OA.…”

Transcriptomic response to decreased pH in adult, larval and juvenile red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, and interactive effects of pH and temperature on juveniles

“…Reduced pH has been suggested to negatively impact the survival of red king crab embryos and larvae (Long et al ., 2013 a ) as well as embryos and larvae of other crabs (Carter et al ., 2013; Ceballos-Osuna et al ., 2013; Schiffer et al ., 2014 b ). Results of transcriptomic analyses presented in this study strongly suggest that wide variation in environmental pH largely does not influence regulation of gene expression in late embryos/newly hatched larvae or in the expression of genes in larvae following 7–8 days of exposure to reduced environmental pH (Table 1, Figures 3 & 4).…”

Impact of Ocean Acidification and Warming on the bioenergetics of developing eggs of Atlantic herring Clupea harengus

“…Oxygen consumption rates (MO 2 ) of late-stage embryos (at 50% eye pigmentation) were measured in closed, temperature-controlled respiration chambers (OXY0 41 A, Collotec Meßtechnik GmbH, Germany, Supplementary Fig. S2 ) following methodologies described by Schiffer et al (2014) . All measurements were performed in duplicates (with two respiration chambers) at the same developmental stage (~50% eye pigmentation) and treatment as during incubation.…”