The metabolic response of pteropods to acidification reflects natural CO2-exposure in oxygen minimum zones

• Main Authors: A. E. Maas, K. F. Wishner, B. A. Seibel
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.639.4042; http://www.biogeosciences.net/9/747/2012/bg-9-747-2012.pdf

Abstract. Shelled pteropods (Thecosomata) are a group of holoplanktonic mollusks that are believed to be especially sensitive to ocean acidification because their aragonitic shells are highly soluble. Despite this concern, there is very lit-tle known about the physiological response of these animals to conditions of elevated carbon dioxide. This study exam-ines the oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion of five pteropod species, collected from tropical regions of the Pa-cific Ocean, to elevated levels of carbon dioxide (0.10 %, 1000 ppm). Our results show that pteropods that naturally migrate into oxygen minimum zones, such as Hyalocylis stri-ata, Clio pyramidata, Cavolinia longirostris and Creseis vir-gula, were not affected by carbon dioxide at the levels and duration tested. Diacria quadridentata, which does not mi-grate, responds to high carbon dioxide conditions with re-duced oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion. This in-dicates that the natural chemical environment of individual species may influence their resilience to ocean acidification. 1