The cascade of effects caused by emersion during early ontogeny in porcelain crabs of the Southeast Pacific coast: Biochemical responses of offspring

How does emersion time affect embryos of coastal marine invertebrate species? Biochemical responses of three porcelain crabs from the Southeastern Pacific

“…Currently, porcelain crabs can frequently be found in intertidal environments where they are exposed to highly variable environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, pH, oxygen) that fluctuate with tidal cycles (Somero, 2002). Thus, during their evolutionary history porcelain crabs have developed adaptive physiological strategies, not only in adults (Somero, 2002;Stillman, 2000), but also in early ontogenetic phases (embryogenesis) to ensure survival and offspring success (Viña-Trillos et al, 2021;present study). This displacement to unexploited ecological niches may be an example of adaptive radiation in response to natural selection and/or ecological opportunity (Glor, 2010).…”

“…Future studies are needed to evaluate the prolonged emersion effect on the embryogenesis of these crab species in order to understand which bioenergetic substrates they are metabolizing during stress and if emersion may have long-term consequences on the energy budget of future larvae. For instance, some studies on the effect of emersion on the early ontogeny of marine invertebrates, including porcelain crabs, have indicated that weight loss, mortality, and morphological damage of larvae increases under prolonged periods of emersion (Marqueze et al, 2006;Viña-Trillos et al, 2021).…”

“…During the emersion time, females did not retain water in their abdomen and slightly depended on room humidity (Boivin et al, 2006). The humidity was kept at a constant 30%-40% for all three evaluated species throughout the experiment, following the methodology used by Lagos et al (2011) and Viña-Trillos et al (2021) in emersion experiments with porcelain crabs for the same geographic location (ca. 40%; controlled by a dehumidifier; BIONAIRE BMD100-LA051).…”

“…In turn, a recent interspecific comparative study of these closely related porcelain crabs indicated that ovigerous females present similar sizes and body morphotypes, but different dry weights (DW) and organic contents (OC; higher values in A. punctatus (DW: 6.98 ± 2.07 g; OC: 3.38 ± 0.29 g) than in P. laevigatus (DW: 1.42 ± 0.34 g; OC: 0.66 ± 0.06 g) and P. violaceus (DW: 1.48 ± 0.33 g; OC: 0.58 ± 0.08 g), different fecundities with higher values in A. laevigatus (4,181 ± 193 embryos) than in P. laevigatus (802 ± 20 embryos) and P. violaceus (794 ± 52 embryos) and different reproductive potentials (lower values in A. laevigatus than in P. laevigatus and P. violaceus) (Viña et al, 2018). These interspecific variations in reproductive parameters may reveal potential processes and mechanisms that have allowed for the success of the adaptive radiation of these porcelains in contrasting and highly dynamic coastal environments (Somero et al, 2017;Viña-Trillos et al, 2021).…”